Severus Snape's Day Off

(One-Shot)

Disclaimers: I don't own anything apart from some DVD's/books for this series.

AN: This is a short standard prompt for "The Houses Competition" set in 'Marauders' Era' time. As I am old (ish), my views of them may vary from the young ones, including the fact that I am TeamCharlus/Dorea, have Sirius/James as distant relations through Black blood, as well as TeamTrans (as an ally). I do not accept any new stuff by Rowling.

House: Gryffindor

Class: Astronomy

Category: Standard

Prompt(s): (1) [Scenario] Being invisible (literally or metaphorically is up to the writer)/ (2) [Action] Secret Handshake / [Word] Particular / [Word] Peculiar

Word count: 2,121 according to AO3 (4.5 pages)

Summary: In which Severus needs a break (canon type bullying).

A pale sliver of magic sliced through the air, hitting his bag. The books fell out, sliding across the floor. The ink bottle rolled away out of sight as Severus fell down with the blow. While he righted himself, he heard glass shatter. Looking around, he saw a dark pool of ink spreading over the floor from the remnants of the ink bottle now strewn about. He shot a glare at the retreating backs of the two culprits.

Sirius Black was either laughing or barking. He always sounded peculiar when he laughed, as if he were part dog or something. James was hanging onto Sirius's arm as they scurried around the corner before anyone could send a hex their way.

Severus sighed as he repaired his bag before collecting his books. Fortunately, not much was damaged, but that had been his only ink bottle in his bag. There was no time to go back to the dorms to get another one, so now he would have to use a bottle from the storage in the next class, but those were usually half empty, or worse, dried out.

Reorganizing his bag caused him to be late for the next class: Charms. He entered last while Flitwick was turned away at the board. Looking ahead, he saw his two arch enemies sitting near the front with Peter. Remus was once more absent. It had been nearly five years of this behaviour, but none of the Professors seemed to care. Yet, if anyone else tried this stunt, they would lose points or even get detention.

Severus sat in the back, a row behind Lily, his only friend here it seemed. She was currently busy jotting down notes as Flitwick finally turned back to the class. Severus didn't pay much attention to it since he knew the charm well enough. Besides, Lily could fill in any details later. For the moment, all he wanted to do was become invisible.

His mind drifted to a different class. There was a particular potion that might help him. The concoction allowed one to be invisible for about a day, give or take an hour or two. But it was difficult to do. He was good at potions, but Lily was the best. She had even taught him a few tricks.

Acting like he was writing down points of interest, Severus wrote a note on a piece of parchment. He folded it before floating it over to Lily.

She read it when Flitwick was focused on someone else.

~'Hi Lily. Do you know how to make the invisible potion? I think I need it for a while.

~Severus'

Lily sent a note back.

~'Meet me in the library.

~Lily'

Once Charms was finished, there was a break period before the final class of the day. Severus found Lily in the library already going through potion books until she found what she was looking for. She put it on a table by the window as she slid into the seat beside him.

"It's a really difficult potion, Sev," Lily said. "Also, it will take two hours to do. Why do you want it?"

"Well ... I ..." Severus stammered. His eyes suddenly snapped forward, seeing two people come in. He dived under the table.

Lily glanced around. Her eyes landed on Sirius first, who was heading to the desk. Next, she saw James sit down next to Peter. "Never mind," she said, turning back to the empty seat where Severus used to be. "What did those idiots do to you, now?" Lily asked, leaning sideways to look underneath.

Severus sent her a helpless look. "Everything," he muttered.

Lily sat up straight. "I'll deal with them, later." She looked at the book laid open before her. "Are you sure you want this? Why don't you let me talk to them first?"

"No," Severus answered. "You know Potter will just try to blackmail you into a date, again. He'll just use your request to his advantage."

"I suppose you're right," Lily said.

"I'd like that potion for the Hogsmeade weekend," Severus said. "It would be nice to be able to have a simple uninterrupted trip, for once.

"How do you plan to get anything if no one can see you?" Lily asked. When Severus didn't answer, she went on, "We can try it. I'll have to be next to you at all times."

"How will you know I'm there if you can't see me either?" Severus asked.

"Just tap me on the shoulder or something," said Lily. "Although," she paused, glancing at James who was laughing at something Sirius had said. "Potter has that stupid Invisibility Cloak. He's followed me around with it, before."

"What a creep!" Severus scowled.

"Tell me about it," Lily complained. "You'll have to let me know it's you. Can you hold your hand in a victory sign?"

"Sure," Severus said as he held up his hand to show her.

"Great, but do this," Lily said as she pulled his middle finger over to press against his index finger so that both were now close together while pointing straight out. "Then I will do this." She mirrored the way his half-closed hand currently was before pressing their fingertips together.

"A secret handshake!" Severus exclaimed.

"Yeah," Lily nodded. "I'll get started on this potion so that it's ready for tomorrow."

"Thanks, Lily," Severus said. "You're a lifesaver." He watched as James finally left with Sirius close behind before making his own get-away to the safety of his dorms.

The next day, Lily met Severus under the Clock Tower. She handed over the potion, then watched as Severus faded before her eyes. She felt their fingertips touch; their little gesture to let her know he was there.

"Alright," Lily began. "Looks like you're completely out of sight. Meet me back here in two hours so we can go to town, together."

"Sounds good," Severus said. "I have some homework to finish up. See you soon."

He moved down the path towards the open grass near the lake. He placed his bag down before realizing that whatever was on his person at the time of taking the potion had also vanished along with him. He kept his fingers closed around the straps so as not to lose it until he could put it in a spot next to a flower growing in the grass which marked the area. Fortunately, his homework consisted of practising some wand movements for the upcoming test in Charms class, which was something he could feel without having to see it.

He busied himself for a while, flicking his wand with precise movements, before suddenly being interrupted by familiar voices. He felt his heart stop for a moment as he saw none other than James Potter come into view. Behind him, Sirius Black was already looking around, his wand out.

Severus instantly knew they were looking for him. Time for his daily dose of teaching him some lessons, as James himself often said. He lifted his wand-hand in defence before remembering something. He was invisible. They couldn't see him!

He waited until they had nearly passed him before flicking his wand, causing the small stones to move sideways.

James fell flat on his face, letting out a peculiar grunting sound as he bit the dirt, his glasses twisting partially off. Sirius tripped right over him, falling right over before sliding down into a rock.

James gingerly picked himself up, fussing with his twisted glasses for a moment before glaring around. "Alright, who did that?" His wand was out, ready to hex the culprit into oblivion. He was looking exactly opposite from Severus, which was rather unfortunate.

Severus sent a jinx directly into James's back, shoving him forward a few feet. Even better, James had gone flying right into Sirius who had just gotten up again. Both were once more piled onto the ground.

"Someone's asking for it!" Sirius groaned. "Wish we could figure out who."

"We will, Padfoot," James muttered. "Believe me, we will. We'll just use our animals to find out."

Severus didn't like the sound of that. He didn't know he was dealing with illegal Animagical people, so he envisioned something along the lines of them having large guard dogs for pets, maybe. Either way, he quickly felt around the area for his bag before bolting to the Clock Tower once more.

"Lily?"

"There you are," Lily turned her back to Severus as she looked around. "Wait. Sev?"

"Right here," Severus put his fingers out to her hand.

"Oh, right," Lily spun around to face him as she returned their secret handshake they had invented. "You ok?"

"Fine," Severus said. He was actually grinning ear to ear. "Shall we go?"

Lily nodded, stepping forward to lead the way.

As they moved out towards the path leading to Hogsmeade, they unfortunately ran into James Potter.

"Hey, Evans!" James grinned. "Want to go with me?"

"Sorry, but I'm old enough to realize now that I'm a lesbian," Lily all but sneered at him. She wasn't really, but James Potter was the kind of man that could drive a woman to drink. She heard a soft snort on her other side.

"A lesbian?" James echoed. "Are you serious?"

"No, he is," Lily jerked her thumb sideways to indicate Sirius Black standing nearby. "Anyway, I'm not into guys."

James pushed his glasses a little further up his nose. "Pretty sure you're making that up."

"Pretty sure I don't care," Lily huffed as she walked away.

"You're hopeless, Jim," Sirius teased as James just shrugged. "Maybe quit harassing her."

"I'm not harassing her!"

"He so is," Severus said in a low voice as he followed Lily towards Hogsmeade.

"Don't worry," Lily said. "I can handle him. Now, let's go to Honeydukes, first. Those guys always go to the Quidditch shop first, so hopefully, we can stay one step ahead of them all the time so we can avoid him."

"Thanks, Lily," Severus said.

"No problem," Lily said, looking left. "Although, it is rather weird talking to air."

"On your right, Lily."

"Oh, right," Lily said. Both stopped walking for a moment. Lily smiled. "Oh, enough with these puns already. Let's get some Butterbeers as well, shall we?"

"Sounds like a plan," Severus agreed.

They grabbed drinks before heading over to get some candy at Honeydukes. Lily grabbed a few chocolates as well as two liquorice wands. She had everything put into two bags.

"We'll need to find a place to eat them," Lily said. "Or else, people will notice."

Severus nodded, then remembered that she couldn't see him. "Alright, where should we go?"

"Let's get something to eat, first," Lily said. "We can go have a picnic somewhere." She led them out into the High Street, ducking behind a tree for a moment to let James Potter pass with his posse, before skirting around through an alleyway to come out beside Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. "Hey, don't you need a new quill?" Lily asked.

"Yes, I do," answered Severus. "Black broke my best one."

"I'll just grab one, right now," Lily said as she entered the shop. She soon picked out a sleek black Raven's feather. While paying for it, she picked out a wooden case for it as well. "This should help keep it straight," she said as she pocketed the thing. She glanced around before feeling two fingertips press on the back of her hand. She returned the gesture, turning to face the space where Severus was. "Ok, now we can get something to eat!"

"Good," Severus said. "I'm hungry. We still need to find a place."

"There's a hill near that Shrieking Shack," said Lily. "We could maybe sit there."

"The shack?" Severus asked in surprise. "That is a very peculiar place."

"Oh, I'm sure it's nonsense, being haunted," Lily said, opening the door to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. Here, they grabbed a few muffins to add to their growing collection of treats.

Severus grabbed Lily's hand for a moment, pressing a few more coins into it. They had been trying to pay in turns.

Lily eventually made her way towards the hill she had in mind, always keeping an eye out for either James or Sirius. They finally sat down against a boulder before pulling out their food to start eating.

For the first time since Hogsmeade trips were available, Severus managed to have a good day without being bullied all the time. He kept contact with Lily often, using their secret handshake of pressing fingertips together while the potion kept him away from roaming eyes looking for a target.

It was nice to not be seen. It was even better to be understood by one true friend.