Fic: A Snape By Any Other Name, Chapter 3
Title: A Snape By Any Other Name
Chapter: 3/??
Summary: The tumultuous friendship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans, set in Fifth Year.
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Marauders. Hints of unrequited Lily/Snape, and as-yet-unrealized Lily/James, and an as-yet-unrealized Remus/Sirius
Genre: Angst/Gen
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 1756
Chapters:
One
Two
"Go away," Lily says, severely, and James Potter nods and starts walking away. Severus breathes a sigh of relief that surprises him. Of course Lily would set that inconsiderate, arrogant bastard straight; nothing has changed, she's been telling him where to shove his wand for years.
But then, James turns around with a flair and says, "Are you sure? I can be very good company." He smiles charmingly at her and Severus barely conceals a retching motion at Potter's hair. It sticks up every which way and still he manages not to be constantly bombarded with sly insults at the hands of every House, including his own.
Lily's green eyes flash once with an emotion that Severus does not recognize on her. "Of course I'm sure. Go away, Potter," she says, emphatically this time, but Severus feels his heart drop at the tiny smile on her face as James continues walking towards his friends. James' back is to Lily, so he does not see the smile, but Severus does, and he wonders when she started smiling.
Yaxley whacks Severus on the back, startling him. "What's got your knickers in a twist, Snape?"
Severus flexes his fingers around the wand in his oversized sleeve, strongly considering using a new hex he's been practicing late at night when his insomnia strikes. If it works, it will lift Yaxley into the air, upside down. And Yaxley occasionally skips pants.
"Nothing, Yax," he snarls, and focuses back on the Slytherin table. Yaxley's twin sister is imitating a few Hufflepuff girls that she startled in the bathroom. The story is marginally amusing and Severus forces himself to laugh. But he is troubled. How much of what Lily says about James Potter is out of habit and loyalty to Severus? What about the rest?
---
"Lily, I came up with another one." Severus, for all of his work at hiding emotions, could not manage to hide his glee over another invented hex. For every one he shows her, he has three more that he is working on that he's positive she will not like.
She quirks an eyebrow at him and offers a small grin. "Oh yeah? You gonna show me this one?"
Lily is a smart, clever girl. She knows of Severus' talents and of his curiosity regarding some of the darker sides of magic, a subject that she has been uncomfortable with even though she is known for how fast she can hex James Potter.
Severus nods slowly. "Don't be afraid, I also wrote the counter jinx," he murmurs, looking at her with doe eyes. "Levicorpus!"
Lily hangs upside down for a moment, squirming because she is upended. She laughs begrudgingly. "Good thing I wore jeans today," she teases, her hair a red waterfall all the way to the ground from where she hangs, holding her shirt so that she will not flash the students milling about outside of the castle. While she manages to keep her modesty intact, Severus catches a glimpse of pale white flesh at the top of her jeans. Something stirs in him and he feels disarmed and uncomfortable. He thinks she is beautiful, but he will never tell her. He's seen how good she is at hexing when she wants to be and feels a rush of affection. Maybe she has some Slytherin in her, after all?
"Can you move me?"
Severus tries to direct her with his wand and fails. "I'll work on that for next time," he promises, with a small nod. "Liberacorpus," he calls, and she tumbles gracelessly to the ground.
"Oof," she grunts, "next time, tell me that you're going to put me down, ok?"
Lily winces and rubs an elbow, her hair everywhere. "What was that you said? 'Levicorpus'?"
"Yes, but don't tell anybody," Severus says solemnly, meeting her eyes. He feels a strange rush of adrenaline from looking at her and squelches it, regrettably.
"Please," she scoffs, waving her hand in the air, "who would I tell?"
A week later, he tries not to be too angry when he watches Sirius Black hold a laughing Peter Pettigrew upside down in the air, and tries not to be too resentful when Sirius moves Peter effortlessly over the punch bowl. He hears her explanation in his head even though she has not yet offered one: She only told Mary or Benjy or another one of her useless Gryffindor friends, and made them swear not to tell anybody, but somebody told the Prewetts who told Caradoc Dearborn, who told somebody else... At this point, it does not matter. Not even Professor McGonagall's reprimand coupled with yet another detention for the detestable boy stops the slow burn of betrayal from sliding down his throat and settling in a pit in his gut.
When he finds himself upside down for the first time outside of the Great Hall and the catcalls start, it is the first time he finds himself silently cursing Lily Evans.
---
After a particularly caustic run-in with Sirius Black, Severus nurses his wounds behind the History of Magic stacks in the library. In retaliation to a particularly nasty epithet regarding his family, Sirius had used a simple burning hex, but he used it effectively enough to cause a large blister on Severus's forearm. If Severus hated Sirius less, he'd feel a bit guilty about retaliating with another one of his new spells, a particularly nasty one entitled 'Sectumsempra.' Sirius Black was in the infirmary losing a lot of blood.
Remus Lupin had docked 20 points from Slytherin for the whole exchange. Poofter.
Lily is nowhere to be seen, which is surprising, because he has come to the library to find her so he could recount the tale of what had happened and have her console him, reassure him that it was not his fault, that Sirius had deserved the "accidental" fallout from the new hex. Severus was not above telling her a little white lie about how he had no idea it would cause such an effect when used -- it would keep her from showing her temper and it would make her more sympathetic. Sometimes Severus felt it necessary to tell her the abridged version of stories, but lately, she's seen through that.
If he never saw another Lily Evans incredulous-eyebrow-raise again, it'd be too soon.
She arrives shortly, face red, hands on her hips.
"What did you do to him?" Her hissed question surprises him, not because she asked, but because she appears concerned about Sirius Black.
"Nothing he didn't deserve," Severus answers, defensively.
"I don't doubt that he deserves something," she agrees, eyes still flashing angrily, "but not to be sent to Madame Pomfrey practically dead. It was a blood spell, Sev. That's dark magic that you have no business doing in general, let alone aiming it at another student. If I didn't know already that Remus took points from you, I'd do it myself. I feel like I've let you get away with everything I know you do to those boys, and I don't like feeling like you've taken our friendship for granted."
Severus opens his mouth like a fish. "But Lily," he stutters, "you know how they are to me. You know how awful they can be!"
She nods. "But it doesn't warrant being the test subject for secretly learned dark magic."
Heat creeps up the back of his neck, both from her reprimand and wounded pride. "You haven't heard my side of the story. Don't you think Lupin might have been exaggerating? He probably feared for his boyfriend's life."
Severus knows he's treading dangerous waters. Lily puts up with a lot of Sirius Black bashing and even more James Potter bashing, but Remus Lupin is off limits. Severus has nothing against Remus; Remus has always made an effort to be civil to him though he does not stop Sirius and James from being bastards of the infinite degree. In fact, he seems amused by most of the time by their antics, especially Black's. In Severus' esteemed opinion, Lupin is nursing an unhealthy, entirely homosexual crush on the Black family's other reject.
Severus rethinks his earlier thought, pondering it slowly in his brain. He surmises that he does not like Remus Lupin any more than his comrades, especially if there is some sort of sick crush on the arrogant Sirius Black.
He knows that Lily considers Lupin to be one of her best friends in her House, for reasons he cannot possibly understand, because Lupin is particularly poor at Potions and particularly weak when it comes to Prefect authority, both attributes of the utmost importance to Lily Evans. Lupin mysteriously disappears in accordance with the full moon, no doubt indicating a certain monthly affliction in addition to his other perversions, and Lily has taken to making excuses for Lupin's rhythmical absences just like the rest of them. Severus knows that Lily and Lupin spend a considerable amount of time together studying these days and he can't help but wonder if he's been replaced.
Lily's face reddens even more, if that is even possible. Sometimes, Severus thinks rather drolly, Gryffindors are so predictable. "You leave Remus out of this. He came to find me in the Common Room, for your information, because he wanted to let me know that Sirius was gravely injured and would not make curfew. Of course, I had to ask how Sirius was gravely injured, and to my surprise the bumbling idiot hadn't crashed into another window or something equally benign, instead he'd been hurt by dark magic. Your dark magic. I couldn't even think of what to say if I had wanted to defend you."
"You don't have to defend me," Severus responds silkily. "I don't feel I need a defense because I haven't done anything wrong. He's still alive, isn't he? That's more courtesy than he shows me."
It is Lily's turn to be speechless. "Look," she says, finally, quietly, "I know the two of you hate each other. But Sirius has never, to my knowledge, done anything that could kill you. The day he does that is the day I consider you on equal footing in my book. As it stands right now, you're lucky he isn't dead and you haven't been expelled."
She has nothing more to say, but out of habit, she still takes a seat and opens her Potions book. While she is making the incredulous eyebrows again, she is still sitting with him, so he takes her silence as acquiescence and feels better.
Chapter: 3/??
Summary: The tumultuous friendship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans, set in Fifth Year.
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Marauders. Hints of unrequited Lily/Snape, and as-yet-unrealized Lily/James, and an as-yet-unrealized Remus/Sirius
Genre: Angst/Gen
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 1756
Chapters:
One
Two
"Go away," Lily says, severely, and James Potter nods and starts walking away. Severus breathes a sigh of relief that surprises him. Of course Lily would set that inconsiderate, arrogant bastard straight; nothing has changed, she's been telling him where to shove his wand for years.
But then, James turns around with a flair and says, "Are you sure? I can be very good company." He smiles charmingly at her and Severus barely conceals a retching motion at Potter's hair. It sticks up every which way and still he manages not to be constantly bombarded with sly insults at the hands of every House, including his own.
Lily's green eyes flash once with an emotion that Severus does not recognize on her. "Of course I'm sure. Go away, Potter," she says, emphatically this time, but Severus feels his heart drop at the tiny smile on her face as James continues walking towards his friends. James' back is to Lily, so he does not see the smile, but Severus does, and he wonders when she started smiling.
Yaxley whacks Severus on the back, startling him. "What's got your knickers in a twist, Snape?"
Severus flexes his fingers around the wand in his oversized sleeve, strongly considering using a new hex he's been practicing late at night when his insomnia strikes. If it works, it will lift Yaxley into the air, upside down. And Yaxley occasionally skips pants.
"Nothing, Yax," he snarls, and focuses back on the Slytherin table. Yaxley's twin sister is imitating a few Hufflepuff girls that she startled in the bathroom. The story is marginally amusing and Severus forces himself to laugh. But he is troubled. How much of what Lily says about James Potter is out of habit and loyalty to Severus? What about the rest?
---
"Lily, I came up with another one." Severus, for all of his work at hiding emotions, could not manage to hide his glee over another invented hex. For every one he shows her, he has three more that he is working on that he's positive she will not like.
She quirks an eyebrow at him and offers a small grin. "Oh yeah? You gonna show me this one?"
Lily is a smart, clever girl. She knows of Severus' talents and of his curiosity regarding some of the darker sides of magic, a subject that she has been uncomfortable with even though she is known for how fast she can hex James Potter.
Severus nods slowly. "Don't be afraid, I also wrote the counter jinx," he murmurs, looking at her with doe eyes. "Levicorpus!"
Lily hangs upside down for a moment, squirming because she is upended. She laughs begrudgingly. "Good thing I wore jeans today," she teases, her hair a red waterfall all the way to the ground from where she hangs, holding her shirt so that she will not flash the students milling about outside of the castle. While she manages to keep her modesty intact, Severus catches a glimpse of pale white flesh at the top of her jeans. Something stirs in him and he feels disarmed and uncomfortable. He thinks she is beautiful, but he will never tell her. He's seen how good she is at hexing when she wants to be and feels a rush of affection. Maybe she has some Slytherin in her, after all?
"Can you move me?"
Severus tries to direct her with his wand and fails. "I'll work on that for next time," he promises, with a small nod. "Liberacorpus," he calls, and she tumbles gracelessly to the ground.
"Oof," she grunts, "next time, tell me that you're going to put me down, ok?"
Lily winces and rubs an elbow, her hair everywhere. "What was that you said? 'Levicorpus'?"
"Yes, but don't tell anybody," Severus says solemnly, meeting her eyes. He feels a strange rush of adrenaline from looking at her and squelches it, regrettably.
"Please," she scoffs, waving her hand in the air, "who would I tell?"
A week later, he tries not to be too angry when he watches Sirius Black hold a laughing Peter Pettigrew upside down in the air, and tries not to be too resentful when Sirius moves Peter effortlessly over the punch bowl. He hears her explanation in his head even though she has not yet offered one: She only told Mary or Benjy or another one of her useless Gryffindor friends, and made them swear not to tell anybody, but somebody told the Prewetts who told Caradoc Dearborn, who told somebody else... At this point, it does not matter. Not even Professor McGonagall's reprimand coupled with yet another detention for the detestable boy stops the slow burn of betrayal from sliding down his throat and settling in a pit in his gut.
When he finds himself upside down for the first time outside of the Great Hall and the catcalls start, it is the first time he finds himself silently cursing Lily Evans.
---
After a particularly caustic run-in with Sirius Black, Severus nurses his wounds behind the History of Magic stacks in the library. In retaliation to a particularly nasty epithet regarding his family, Sirius had used a simple burning hex, but he used it effectively enough to cause a large blister on Severus's forearm. If Severus hated Sirius less, he'd feel a bit guilty about retaliating with another one of his new spells, a particularly nasty one entitled 'Sectumsempra.' Sirius Black was in the infirmary losing a lot of blood.
Remus Lupin had docked 20 points from Slytherin for the whole exchange. Poofter.
Lily is nowhere to be seen, which is surprising, because he has come to the library to find her so he could recount the tale of what had happened and have her console him, reassure him that it was not his fault, that Sirius had deserved the "accidental" fallout from the new hex. Severus was not above telling her a little white lie about how he had no idea it would cause such an effect when used -- it would keep her from showing her temper and it would make her more sympathetic. Sometimes Severus felt it necessary to tell her the abridged version of stories, but lately, she's seen through that.
If he never saw another Lily Evans incredulous-eyebrow-raise again, it'd be too soon.
She arrives shortly, face red, hands on her hips.
"What did you do to him?" Her hissed question surprises him, not because she asked, but because she appears concerned about Sirius Black.
"Nothing he didn't deserve," Severus answers, defensively.
"I don't doubt that he deserves something," she agrees, eyes still flashing angrily, "but not to be sent to Madame Pomfrey practically dead. It was a blood spell, Sev. That's dark magic that you have no business doing in general, let alone aiming it at another student. If I didn't know already that Remus took points from you, I'd do it myself. I feel like I've let you get away with everything I know you do to those boys, and I don't like feeling like you've taken our friendship for granted."
Severus opens his mouth like a fish. "But Lily," he stutters, "you know how they are to me. You know how awful they can be!"
She nods. "But it doesn't warrant being the test subject for secretly learned dark magic."
Heat creeps up the back of his neck, both from her reprimand and wounded pride. "You haven't heard my side of the story. Don't you think Lupin might have been exaggerating? He probably feared for his boyfriend's life."
Severus knows he's treading dangerous waters. Lily puts up with a lot of Sirius Black bashing and even more James Potter bashing, but Remus Lupin is off limits. Severus has nothing against Remus; Remus has always made an effort to be civil to him though he does not stop Sirius and James from being bastards of the infinite degree. In fact, he seems amused by most of the time by their antics, especially Black's. In Severus' esteemed opinion, Lupin is nursing an unhealthy, entirely homosexual crush on the Black family's other reject.
Severus rethinks his earlier thought, pondering it slowly in his brain. He surmises that he does not like Remus Lupin any more than his comrades, especially if there is some sort of sick crush on the arrogant Sirius Black.
He knows that Lily considers Lupin to be one of her best friends in her House, for reasons he cannot possibly understand, because Lupin is particularly poor at Potions and particularly weak when it comes to Prefect authority, both attributes of the utmost importance to Lily Evans. Lupin mysteriously disappears in accordance with the full moon, no doubt indicating a certain monthly affliction in addition to his other perversions, and Lily has taken to making excuses for Lupin's rhythmical absences just like the rest of them. Severus knows that Lily and Lupin spend a considerable amount of time together studying these days and he can't help but wonder if he's been replaced.
Lily's face reddens even more, if that is even possible. Sometimes, Severus thinks rather drolly, Gryffindors are so predictable. "You leave Remus out of this. He came to find me in the Common Room, for your information, because he wanted to let me know that Sirius was gravely injured and would not make curfew. Of course, I had to ask how Sirius was gravely injured, and to my surprise the bumbling idiot hadn't crashed into another window or something equally benign, instead he'd been hurt by dark magic. Your dark magic. I couldn't even think of what to say if I had wanted to defend you."
"You don't have to defend me," Severus responds silkily. "I don't feel I need a defense because I haven't done anything wrong. He's still alive, isn't he? That's more courtesy than he shows me."
It is Lily's turn to be speechless. "Look," she says, finally, quietly, "I know the two of you hate each other. But Sirius has never, to my knowledge, done anything that could kill you. The day he does that is the day I consider you on equal footing in my book. As it stands right now, you're lucky he isn't dead and you haven't been expelled."
She has nothing more to say, but out of habit, she still takes a seat and opens her Potions book. While she is making the incredulous eyebrows again, she is still sitting with him, so he takes her silence as acquiescence and feels better.