Gemini Volkov was not one to simply sit back and watch another being tortured, although she felt that she had been doing that a lot lately. She watched from behind the bushes as she noticed the so-called Marauders approaching Severus. The problem before her first came to her attention when they were in the Great Hall, the day her 5th school year at Hogwarts ended. The girls around her raised their heads to watch Sirius Black walk right past them to his seat, but instead of doing so, he stopped to encourage James Potter to take the book Severus Snape was reading. After thinking about what she had seen for about a week or so, she realized what was going on.

Severus was being bullied by the "popular" boys at school. The boy looked like someone who would know how to defend himself, with his extremely long legs and shoulder-length black hair that made him look slightly threatening, but apparently, he had a little bit of trouble. Or a lot of trouble, Gemini would have thought if she was being honest with herself. She felt guilty for not having noticed this already, even when James would take Severus' things right in front of her nose. She thought they were just messing around! Once she got over her epiphany, she reminded herself daily that she was going to help Severus when school started again.

And here she was, two and a half months later, watching Severus like a hawk while waiting for the Marauders to show up. She glared at James Potter, watching him turn the helpless wizard upside down and leaving him hanging in midair. She stood up from behind the bush and approached the group with an angry march.

"Stop bothering him, James." Gemini pulled her wand out and pointed it at the smirking wizard. James simply looked at her and chuckled softly before looking back at his victim.

"What's a cute Gryffindor like yourself doing defending a slime ball Slytherin like him?" Sirius poked Gemini's back, causing her to flinch before she scrunched her nose and glared at him.

"What's a 'kind-hearted, brave and all the other things a Gryffindor is supposed to be' like yourself doing bullying a guy who has done nothing to you?" Gemini stood on her toes, trying to make herself more intimidating, but she only earned a pat on the head from Sirius.

"He's done plenty of things!" Remus spoke up from behind Sirius, but didn't care to name any. Gemini shook her head and turned her attention back to James.

"Levicorpus!" Gemini gave her a wand a sharp flick, sending James flying just like he had done to Severus, causing him to drop his wand in the process. She hadn't completely thought her plan through, and Severus fell right on her. She was awfully small for her age (5'1") and felt almost crushed under his weight until he lifted himself with his elbows, giving her lungs enough space to breathe.

Severus had a confused look on his face as he stared down at her and she could see this well. He had noticed her in class once or twice when she accidentally hit him in the face with her waist-length wavy, pitch-black hair, but that was it. The only thing he knew about her was her name and who she was, so he was curious on why she was trying to help him.

Severus was rolled off of Gemini by an annoyed-looking Sirius, helping the young girl up and shaking his head at her while Peter Pettigrew laughed in the background.

"You shouldn't mess with us, little girl." Peter stated when he was done laughing.

Gemini looked to her side to make sure Severus was standing already before she gave her wand another flick, making James fall from the sky and land right on his crew.

Gemini took Severus' hand quickly and started running, dragging him along with her. Severus seemed to have caught on, realizing that they would both be in huge trouble if they were caught by the Marauders with an angry leader.

"Get them!" James roared, getting up and stumbling towards the runaways, but finally adjusting to walking again and then running quickly. His friends did the same and raced right behind James, who was not much further ahead than they were.

The two ran for their lives, pushing past a lot of students and making them drop a toad, a heavy book and glass of orange juice along the way. It wasn't exactly the nicest way to get away from the others, but it was definitely the safest. At least the orange juice spill and girls trying to pick up their books would slow them down a little; hopefully the toad would get in their way as well.

Gemini could feel herself almost falling, since her short legs weren't used to running, but soon Severus was taking the lead. She followed him for a few seconds longer until she spotted a statue that was wide and tall enough to hide them both. She picked up speed as she looked back to make sure James wasn't around the corner yet and pulled Severus behind the statue, gasping for air.

"What are—" Severus started, but stopped when Gemini pressed her finger against his lips. She looked down and took quiet breaths, waiting to see if she could hear the Marauders nearby. She heard them pass them and then finally pulled her finger away, soon realizing that she had been holding Severus' hand the whole time.

"Sorry." She whispered, pulling her hand away and looking up anxiously at the other.

"What are you doing? Do you realized you have just bought yourself a one-way ticket to being bullied for the rest of your life at Hogwarts?" Severus was making hand gestures now, which made Gemini giggle. She felt he was exaggerating a bit.

"I'm not scared of them." Gemini shrugged. "Besides, there's not that much time left."

"You won't think so when you find your things missing and people spitting in your food." The tall boy crossed his arms, frowning.

"I think the words you are looking for are 'thank' and 'you'." Gemini raised an eyebrow, smirking at the other.

"I—thank you." Severus was going to go on with his long explanation on why she had made the biggest mistake of her life, but she was obviously not going to listen. Besides, she didn't look like she needed much advice now.

"No problem." Before Severus could ask her anything else, she began walking away and Severus was not going to make any attempt to go after her. If she really wanted to keep talking to someone as boring as he was, she would have.

A few days after the incident, things seemed to be getting better, at least by a little bit. James avoided him like a plague, and only played simple tricks on him, those that wouldn't scare a fly. This was primarily because he was only bullied in secret now, because James didn't want Gemini to mention that she had already beat him once. Severus truly thanked Gemini from the bottom of his heart.

He had noticed her a lot more now, and had made a few failed attempts to talk to her again, but decided against it later on. It's not like he had anything else to say.

Severus almost found himself laughing when he was forced to talk to her anyway.

Upon arriving to potions class on a sunny Friday morning, Severus found that James Potter had taken his spot next to his ex-best friend and crush, Lily Evans. Although it had been 1 year since he and Lily stopped speaking, he always sat next to her. She ignored him completely, but he felt better just being by her side.

Severus looked around for another seat. Either he sat next to Sirius Black or next to Gemini Volkov. His choice was obvious and he set off to sit next to his heroine.

Gemini smiled at him and looked back down at her book, not saying anything at all. Severus didn't take it very harshly and he did the same, opening his book and reading the instructions for the day.

"Today you will be making a love potion." Professor Slughorn started up, causing a few hands to go up. "Yes, Ms. Prewett." He pointed at the young lady with fiery-red hair.

"Isn't that potion a little dangerous?" She asked, her nose scrunching up slightly. Arthur Weasley, who was seated right next to her, raised his hand and spoke without being asked. "I agree with her."

"I thought it would be an interesting item to start the year off with." Professor Slughorn chuckled. "Besides, you won't be taking it anywhere out of this classroom; I will be making sure of that." A few girls frowned and Gemini giggled. She didn't understand why girls were so obsessed with giving guys love potions. It was a disturbing thought! "Also," Professor Slughorn began again, snapping Gemini out of her thoughts. "You will be working with the person right next to you to create it. I just want to make sure I don't have too many love potions to take care of. You have one hour and you may begin!"

Severus went to gather the ingredients while Gemini waited and read the instructions a second time. She was a little of an overachiever and wanted to make sure that they did everything just right.

The two got to work right away and didn't really talk very much. It was a little boring, but Severus was glad that his head wasn't being clouded up with small talk. Gemini didn't seem like she was much of a small talk person either, since she seemed to like to get right to the point.

When they were finished, Severus was glad. The silence was beginning to get a little awkward. He called Professor Slughorn to come check on the potion and looked back to see that Gemini had left already. The professor approved their potion and Severus quickly picked up his books so he could catch up with Gemini.

He could still see her when he walked out of the classroom, and he began walking quickly. He then remembered they weren't friends yet. He shook his head and continued walking, but quite slowly. He was curious on where she was going, since she left from the room so quickly that he hadn't even noticed her.

They went around many corners, walked up many stairs and pushed past several doors. Severus was beginning to get tired when he noticed they were at their destination. He pushed the door quietly and noticed that he was at the entrance of a decent-sized balcony. Gemini was sitting on the floor, making her lunch appear before her. Why hadn't he thought of doing so instead of going to the Great Hall every day for lunch?

He watched her for a little longer until he heard her speak.

"Severus, would you care to join me?"

"I—how did you know I was here?" Severus mumbled softly, walking outside.

"How could I not?" Gemini turned to him with a grin. "You're extremely tall and surprisingly noisy when you walk." She didn't dare mention that it was just his robe fluttering as he followed her.

"Well…" Severus scoffed, sitting down next to her and crossing his legs, pulling out a book from under his arm and opening it. Gemini eyeballed him for a moment and then looked down at her food.

"Aren't you going to eat?"

Severus shook his head, staring at the text in concentration. He bit his lip slightly, and Gemini wasn't sure he was breathing. She poked his shoulder, and he didn't look up, but he took a deep breath to indicate he was alive. The young witch found herself bored with the lack of conversation and decided she would start with a rather spicy topic.

"Tell me about what happened with you and Lily Evans." Gemini stretched like a cat before picking up some food from her plate.

In that moment, Severus dropped his book. Gemini acted so casual, as if this was a matter to be discussing with a total stranger and it angered him. He closed his book, setting it on the ground before he took a deep breath. She had been nice to him; he couldn't exactly scare her away like he would have if she was any other person.

"I called her a mudblood." Severus heard himself saying. He wasn't actually planning on telling her what happened, but it just sort of came out that way.

"Ah…" Gemini shrugged. She personally didn't think it was a big deal, but she couldn't imagine what it would have sounded like to someone who truly cared about what people had to say. "You love her, right?"

Severus couldn't hold back a nod and Gemini acknowledged his answer by nodding back at him. Gemini already knew it. She was very observant and noticed how he looked at her. They talked very much, but stopped talking at random. Her curiosity was eating her up, but she was glad she knew about it now.

"I'll help you with her!" Gemini put a finger on Severus' chin, tilting his head so he was facing her.

"You'll what?"

"I'll help you with her!" Gemini repeated just as enthusiastically as she had said it before.

"No! There's no way I'm letting a stranger meddle with my love life." Severus pressed his lips together, shaking his head quickly.

"Love life? You mean sitting next to her and watching her completely ignore you every day?" The shorter of the two snorted, trying to not laugh out loud.

Severus frowned, but he couldn't say she was wrong. That was basically what he was doing. Perhaps he could use a little help, although he had some doubts about her. She was a weird girl and didn't seem to have any friends. Perhaps there was a reason for her loneliness. Then again, Severus didn't have any friends either, so he couldn't just assume.

"I guess you're right…" Severus chewed on his lip nervously and looking down at his lap, his jet-black hair falling down to his face.

"So will you let me or not?" Gemini put her hand out. "I'll help you and you'll accompany me during lunch in return."

"That sounds like a cheap way to make a friend."

"It is."

"Fair enough." Severus nodded and shook her hand, immediately regretting it.

Author's Note: Hello, people in the fandom that I have yet to explore! I really don't have much to say other than "this is my first Harry Potter fanfic" but you could probably tell by the first sentence of this message, right? Skipping the awkward introductions, I will just go ahead and also mention that I haven't written in a while, so I may be a little rusty. Despite my lack of self-confidence in this fic, I am posting it and hoping to get some support. c: Thank you and have a nice day!