Severus wasn't sure what to make of James Potter's declaration that he would leave him alone. Ever skeptical, Severus wasn't ready to believe those words until he saw proof in Potter's actions. For six years, Potter had been the bane of Severus's existence. Potter had never missed a moment to find a new way to torment him, and now, he was surrendering? Could Potter just be trying a new approach to gain Lily's good graces and surprise Severus by tricking him?
Oddly enough, Potter didn't seem to give Severus much attention at all in the following days. Much to Sirius Black's dismay, his best friend was no longer finding amusement in ridiculing and jinxing Severus. Severus noticed an almost constant frown on Black's face nowadays, and inwardly, he smirked. Could the Marauders be drifting apart, or had the great divide already happened?
Choosing not to discuss it, Severus wasn't pleased when Lily brought up the subject of Potter one day in early May.
"It's the strangest thing," Lily was saying. "He's almost a gentlemen now."
"Toward you, perhaps," Severus muttered moodily. "Potter has fancied you for years, Lily. His approach may have changed, but that doesn't mean his intentions have."
Lily grimaced. "Do you really think so, Sev?" she asked pointedly. "You told me yourself what he said to you, about backing off. Maybe he's finally realized that I'm taken."
Lily wrapped her arm around his as they walked while saying those last few words and pulled him closer. Severus blushed a little, intently ignoring the stares they were attracting from others.
"I stand by what I said, Lily," Severus stated firmly. "Before you say I'm being pessimistic, which may be true in its own right, know that it's more a matter of being realistic. I've lived long enough to know that people often say one thing and do quite the opposite."
His last line earned a perplexed look from Lily. "Lived long enough?" she queried. "You talk like you're old and experienced, Sev," she teased.
Inwardly, Severus berated himself for the slip of the tongue. Despite having relived nearly a year of his new life, he still wasn't completely used to it. He didn't imagine he would feel his true age until his body actually caught up with his mind... if that ever happened.
"Well, maybe not so long in years," he amended, "but experiences, perhaps."
Lily nodded. That was true enough. Few people she knew had dealt with the abuse he had as a child, had a mentally unstable mother who died, and an alcoholic father, and that was just his home life.
"I guess it has been hard for you," she admitted. "I mean, being sorted into Slytherin-"
"What's wrong with Slytherin?" he asked defensively, on reflex.
"Sev, if you'd let me finish," Lily said heatedly, "I could get to my point. As I was saying, you were sorted into Slytherin, which is the toughest house to be in. I mean, you really have to fight to keep your head above water, and the other houses look down on you. You know this. It's just unfair."
"Sympathy from a Gryffindor?" Severus asked sarcastically, unable to help himself. Sobering, he added, "Unfortunately, what you say it true."
If he wanted to, Severus could have dwelt on his old friends from Slytherin, but he chose not to. Lily had never approved of them, and while Severus certainly didn't need her approval, he knew from experience the first time what being friends with people like Avery and Mulciber would lead to.
"Anyway," Lily was now saying, "don't worry about Potter."
Severus nodded. Perhaps Potter wasn't the one he needed to worry about, for Black had been the one lately who had been a menace toward him. Without his friends backing him up, though, Severus wasn't afraid of Black. In a duel, he could easily beat the pretty boy Gryffindor.
x x x x x
The following day, Severus's duelling skills were tested.
He wasn't with Lily this time when the attack came. While headed to his private room, Severus thought he would be safe from harm. No one, even his old Slytherin friends, had managed to follow him to his bedroom. Regrettably, his privacy would not last.
"Hey, Snivellus," came a nasty voice from the shadows.
Severus dropped his bag and reached for his wand, holding it out, ready for the impending attack. He saw a red flash of light, probably a Stunning Spell, and deflected it.
"Come out and face me like a man, Black, if you're so ready to start firing hexes," Severus growled.
Sirius Black emerged from the darkness along the wall. His handsome features were twisted into an unflattering sneer, very uncharacteristic for him.
"I bet you're really congratulating yourself, aren't you, Snape?" Black asked. "You lose your mother, and you gain sympathy from my friends. I won't be so easily fooled, though."
"Is that right?" Severus retorted.
"I've known the truth about you for years now, Snivellus. You'd be better off dead. You'll never amount to anything but another Death Eater. It's a bloody shame Remus didn't get you last year."
Severus bristled with hatred. He had always hated Sirius Black, but since when did Black speak with such venom? Black had always spoken of the Shrieking Shack incident as "a joke" or "a prank" before. While Severus believed Black meant for him to die, he had never actually heard vocal confirmation from Black about it.
"Think what you want, Black," Severus hissed, "but you would be no better than these Death Eaters you talk about if you killed me. Do you really want blood on your delicate hands?"
"You don't get it, do you, Snape? I know what Dark wizards are like. I come from a whole family of them. My parents support You-Know-Who, and my younger brother is growing up finely to make another addition to his ranks. My cousin Bellatrix signed right up. I vowed to be different from the filth I came from. I swore I'd fight against wizards who are Dark, and I've seen you, Snape. You're up to your greasy head in the Dark Arts. I don't know what you think you're doing with poor Lily Evans, but now you've got James and Remus duped that you're not such a bad guy. You don't fool me for a second, you Death Eater scum."
"Are you jealous you've lost your little friends, Black?" Severus asked, smirking. All of Black's comments rolled off his back. He had heard far worse before.
"Shut up!" Black suddenly bellowed, whipping his wand out, ready to attack.
In an instant, Severus had his wand at the ready. His heart was thumping loudly in his head, the adrenaline coursing through him.
"James had it right about you, Snape," Black continued. "He may have forgotten, but you deserved to be tormented for even existing. Your disgusting bitch of a mother made a huge mistake having you, and even she must not have been able to stand you, what with how she killed herself and all. Tell me, Snivellus, did you weep upon her dead body, knowing that you killed her because she was so ashamed of you? Or did she do it because she hated herself for giving birth to such a pathetic curse of a person?"
With every word that Black uttered, Black's hatred increased, but Severus found his own loathing boiling over. It was one thing for Black to talk badly about Severus, but to bring Severus's mother into matters was unforgivable. Images of Eileen's body hanging from the ceiling, her lifeless eyes staring up at nothing, and crying into her cold feet flashed through Severus's mind. All efforts of controlling his emotions since her death failed, and he felt the pain as hot and real as if it were happening all over again. In his agony, Severus felt the prickling of tears of rage form and then spill over. His entire body was trembling, and as he lifted his right hand and made a quick slashing motion numerous times over, he wasn't aware of what he was doing. All he felt was the overwhelming affliction washing over him, like suffering from ten Crucios at once.
His rage released, Severus opened his eyes. Black was no longer talking. His screams had been lost to Severus. Realization at what he had done, Severus dropped his wand, and it hit the stone floor with a resounding bang, echoes rattling down the corridor. He took a step back as the blood pooled at his feet.
There, lying on the floor, sprawled out and shaking, was the bloody, mangled mass of Sirius Black.
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