Hey all. This is the rather small and introductory chapter to what will hopefully become a long story following Sev/Lily throughout their last three years at Hogwarts, and will try to stick to canon as much as pos...
I fell in love with Sev/Lily in the Prince's Tale chapter in DH, as so many did. Anyway, Snape has always been my favourite character. So in this fic he will be portrayed as I think he was - sure, the angst and quiet refrain - but also the arrogance and, well - sex appeal that most Slytherins have!
Anyway, please R&R because this is actually my first fic! x
"What're you doing?" Sirius whispered, an insatiable excitement buzzing in his tone.
"Just watch." James replied through the corner of his mouth, beginning to whisper incantations under his breath and drawing his wand out from his pocket.
Remus shook his head, slightly aghast at his friends – just how far was James' crush on Lily going to go? It had been five years already. Peter looked on, dotingly as always.
Snape glanced towards the back of the dark potions dungeon, a gaggle of giggling Gryffindors girls drawing his attention. He often wondered how Lily could have been sorted into Gryffindor – how different she was from her friends, who merely gossiped and fawned over the much afformented Marauders. Snape didn't care much for the waste of space that was Pettigrew, and on occasion was actually grateful for Lupin's presence – he was all to aware that his life in Hogwarts would have been even worse – if that were possible – if it were not for the disdainful, though half-hearted, interventions of Lupin against his friends when it came to what could only be described as unprovoked attacks on Snape… 'Snivellus', as it were. Lupin didn't partake in the use of that particularly charming nickname. Then again, he thought, the heat boiling up inside his chest, anyone who cherishes the existence of Black and Potter are equally useless and loathsome.
Well, except Lily, of course.
Snape glanced sideways at Lily, as inconspicuously as he could, and regarded her long locks of fire red hair, which were presently spilling down in front of her shoulders, getting in the way of her slender hands as she tried to chop up inches of mandrake root, bent over, the other side of their shared cauldron.
That shared cauldron. He both loved it and loathed it. It had been what initially brought them together - what sealed their friendship that had begun in youth and that flourished throughout their first four years at Hogwarts. It was October, and the year had just begun - they had resumed their successful partnership in Potions, much to the delight of old Slughorn, and much to the dismay of Potter. In September Snape had determined to avoid Potter and his gang as much as possible. A month had past. He had duelled Black twice already, Potter five times, and four of the seven times Snape had ended up in a full body bind - what he could only assume was the culmination of the limited magic of Potter and his gang. Snape knew he was more talented than Potter in almost every aspect, not least of all at Potions. He smiled furtively at Lily and their bubbling cauldron. Yes; it certainly gave them over three hours a week of bonding time, but then again, as they both occupied adjascent seats, it took up the space between them. Without that space, Snape would be within grabbing and grasping and kissing and caressing and Merlin, he was losing it distance to Lily, who had admittedly... developed... rather alarmingly over the Summer.
Lily sighed for what he estimated was the twenty third time that class, dropped the roots and her cutting knife unceremoniously and reeled up, struggling to fix her hair behind her ears.
"Maybe I should cut it all off for you." Snape chortled – he could not deny that her annoyance was extremely endearing – cute.
"Try it, and you'll find yourself floating in the lake, hexed." Lily shot back.
"I was under the impression that we had settled this last time," Snape began, now grinning devilishly. "When it comes to you and I; your wand against mine; time and time again you will find yourself utterly fuc-".
He was stopped short as the phial of hellebore juice he was testing shattered into pieces, the glass and the juice smashing onto the table – covering both Snape's hands, and, much to Snape's fury – he saw a piece of glass fly through the air and cut Lily's cheek.
From the back of the dungeon came roars of laughter. Sirius was bent over his desk at the look of disgust and contempt that had etched itself onto Snape's long, sallow face, and the gaggle of girls who spent their days cooing over the foursome were laughing appreciatively. Snape began to turn, his hand groping for his wand – but it was too late – as a mop that Potter had undoubtedly cursed came flying from the wall and hit Snape, stinking foam and grease smattering his face, which was already beginning to erupt into boils from the exposure to the hellebore juice.
Professor Slughorn finally caught up and acknowledged the mischief going on in his class, and with a wave of his wand cleared the glass and juice from Snape, who had finally managed to find his wand and was pointing it at Potter's head, seething with fury.
"Mr. Snape…" Slughorn said in an attempt at the authority which he clearly lacked over the class. "Please lower your wand, any bickering will be reserved for outside my classroom, unless, regrettably, you want a detention."
No-one was listening to him. Silence had fallen over the fifth-years, who began to inch towards the walls, out of the firing line – some of them looking worried, some even fearful – and of course, like Sirius – some grinning.
"Give me a reason, Potter" Snape hissed, "and I swear I will."
Potter, whose own wand was also pointed at Snape, looked on with the same contempt, but also with a hint of panic of which Snape was devoid. Snape was able to notice this, after the countless times they had squared off in the past. The panic was a new feature to Potter's usual arrogance and cockiness. And Snape knew that it was because Potter had got wind of Snape's new hobby – the studying and occasionally, the practise of, the Dark Arts.
"Worried I might debase that pretty little face of yours, Potter? Wouldn't that be a shame…" Snape sneered. Snape envisioned using his newly created spell, titled 'Sectumsempra' - and for a second his eyes glazed over, fantasizing about Potter dropping to the floor, blood spurting from his very poures, his nose and mouth, screaming for mercy...
Don't be so ridiculous, Snape told himself. He had only made the spell with the view of impressing Lucius Malfoy and friends. Not even Potter was worthy of its destruction.
"Severus," Slughorn began imploringly.
"I'd say the same to you, Snivellus, but there's not much to debase, is there? Mummy clearly wasn't much of a looker."
"DON'T YOU DARE MENTION MY MOTHER!" Snape roared, and through his wand shot flashing red light, which sent Potter flying backwards, into an empty cauldron, a dull thud being heard as he sank to the floor.
Several students gasped. Snape didn't move. Lily reached out a hand and squeezed Snape's outstretched arm.
"Sev…"
Snape immediately softened, despite himself, and quickly picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder, not even glancing at the shocked Slughorn, his favourite teacher to whom he was eternally grateful, or the swearing Potter on the ground. His face now beginning to ache from boils, he felt too ashamed to even look at Lily, who watched him sadly as he flew by and out of the dungeon, towards – she hoped, the hospital wing, and not his Slytherin companions who she knew would relish the smallest excuse to take on James' gang.
A collective sigh of relief fell over the class. Slughorn massaged his forehead.
"Evans, aren't you even gonna' come over here to kiss me better?" Lily heard James say from his position on the floor.
"Shut up, you bastard." Was all Lily could muster – her mind was elsewhere.
"I will!" Came the reply from an attractive fellow Gryffindor, Jynea Vermont, which triggered predictable banter from Sirius.
"Don't bother with him, Jy, I'm all yours!"
Lily rolled her eyes and wished Severus was there to share her disdain. She hoped he wouldn't lash out over this – recently, his and James' spouts had been getting more and more heated, and she knew he was starting to blame her.
"Professor?" Lily began. "Please may I be excused? I'm really not feeling well."
Slughorn looked up from behind his desk at her knowingly. He had been watching the relationship between two of his finest students grow for the past five years. He smiled at Lily, and nodded – he had be the one to put these two together as potions partners at the very beginning, so who was he to get in the way of what was doubtlessly blossoming into an increasingly important partnership?
Lily smiled back gratefully. She escaped the dungeon, exiting to James' songful pleadings – "Evans! If you leave me now, you take away the biggest part of me! Ooh ooh ooooh no, baby please – Evans! Hey, Evans!"
"Toerag." Lily muttered.