Chapter 119: For the Heart of a Lioness (2)
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon in mid-September, one of those golden days that still preserve the memory of the dying summer. Lily Evans closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relishing the warmth of the sun while she and Severus Snape sat on a secluded bench in the Courtyard, chatting about life and going through the bag of sweet apples the young witch had brought with her.
"Would you like another apple?" – Snape's voice broke the tranquillity of the moment, prompting the girl to open her emerald-green eyes and smile at his serious face. She knew those were his favourite fruits, but her friend would never even dream of taking something without asking her first. He was just too caring.
"No, Sev, you can take it. I'm full." – she declared with a smile, pleased to see that Severus didn't need to be told twice and grabbed the last fruit – "Besides, you need to eat more now that we're back at Hogwarts. You're still growing up, after all!"
"I eat enough." – Snape insisted, his mouth full of juicy apple – "I even got taller over summer, you know? They needed to buy me new robes, which made him furious, of course."
"Is he still without a job?" – Lily inquired, feeling once again angry at Tobias Snape, who she had never met but nevertheless placed at the top of her Candidates for a Bat Bogey Hex list, along with James Potter and Cassius Mulciber.
"Yeah! I highly doubt that he'd be able to find anything. I'm not even sure he's looking. All the money he gets from the Muggle government, he spends in the pub, which is better than him being at home, to be honest." – the boy stated with an even voice – "I'll just say I'm happy to finally be out of that crap hole. A bit longer, and I might have ended up in Azkaban."
Lily gently squeezed her friend's hand. He appeared slightly taken aback but allowed the gesture, a faint smile playing on his thin lips. The red-headed girl knew a lot about the problems in the Snape's household. Whatever Severus was keeping to himself, she could guess by his shabby clothes, how thin he'd always been after summer, and the occasional bruises she had noticed over the years. If it were up to her, she would have offered Severus all the help she could. However, he was so proud the Gryffindor was used to tip-toeing around him and his needs.
"Tuney and I had quite a fight the night before I left for Hogwarts." – Lily admitted softly – "She was in a bad mood ever since our last day in France, when I stumbled upon a Wizarding bookstore in Paris and bought a few books. She called me a freak again."
"She's the one who's a freak!" – Snape retorted, annoyed – "If you want, I could test one of the spells I'm currently working on her. That would shut her up."
"It's not funny, Sev! You can't joke about using untested spells on Muggles! Plus, regardless of how poorly she treats me, Petunia is still my sister!" – the red-headed witch stated firmly, brushing off her friend's disappointed expression.
"I hope that at least you had some fun during your trip." – he said, deciding to change the topic diplomatically.
"Yeah, it was awesome. Not my first trip to France, but this time we explored small villages in the countryside down south. The food was amazing! Spent hours walking around the fields, picking flowers. Then we went to the seaside. The water was perfect! I read somewhere that the warmer seas were home to Sirens, but we didn't spot any. I wonder if Muggles can see or hear them at all! I also got the chance to practice my French a lot. I was so rusty! Need to ask Catherine to help me polish it up! It seems I've forgotten so much from what we studied it at school!" – Lily blurted out in one breath.
"I wish I could forget about it." – Snape mumbled quietly.
"I'm sorry, Sev!" – the girl immediately picked up on his change in mood – "I know that were mean to you there. I didn't intend to bring back bad memories."
"They're mean to me here too. I don't really care. I refuse to allow this to affect me." – the Slytherin said indifferently, avoiding his friend's gaze.
"I just wish I could make it better for you! I thought about you during my trip, you know? I wished you could've come with us and enjoy the beach and the fields." – Lily said, resting her head against Severus' bony shoulder, her green eyes dreamily focused on the vivid pictures in her memory.
"I would have loved that." – Snape admitted softly, his voice surprisingly smooth and mature – "We've never gone anywhere for a vacation, but I often dreamt of travelling to some distant place with cliffs and a lot of open air to watch the birds fly."
"Sounds beautiful! And a bit chilly." – Lily chuckled cheerfully.
"I'll make sure you're warm." – Severus almost whispered, his heart pounding madly in his chest.
Sensing the conversation veering into an awkward direction, Lily delicately cleared her throat. Thoughts of her recent argument with the girls flashed through her mind, and she felt a blush colouring her cheeks.
"Have you heard they added a new essay question in the OWLs this year?" – the young witch attempted to change the subject – "With all the teachers already freaking out about exams, I'm starting to get nervous."
"You have nothing to worry about." – the Slytherin stated confidently – "You're on top of every class and undoubtedly the brightest witch in our year, Muggle-born or not."
"What does that have to do with anything?" – Lily snapped suddenly, her green eyes flashing angrily.
"No… I didn't mean it like that!" – the young wizard tried to sooth the irritated Gryffindor – "I meant you had a lot to catch up on and you've done splendidly. You're truly unique!"
"No, I'm not!" – Lily hissed, jumping to her feet and fixing the confused boy with her heated stare – "There are plenty of Muggle-born witches and wizards who are just as smart and talented as I am! There's nothing unique about it, unless you try to justify how I'm different from all those you and your friends call Mudbloods!"
"I've never…" – Snape started to defend himself, rising to his feet and meeting Lily's gaze with a pleading expression – "I would never call you that, and you know it!"
"Why? What's the difference between me and Catherine, for example?" – the red-headed witch inquired dryly – "You call her Mudblood all the time, yet she's even smarter than me, not to mention more powerful."
"Nonsense!" – Snape spat hatefully – "She's just a banshee who knows how to impress the teachers for good grades! If it weren't for Potter and Black, no one would think she's powerful! All she has is money and a spiteful mouth used without any control or restrain! She gets away with it because people fear her gang of morons! And don't you have mirrors in the Gryffindor Tower? She's as ugly as sin! No sane boy in this school would ask such an arrogant trollop on a date! Mark my words, she'll be alone at the Halloween Ball!"
"Severus!" – Lily exclaimed, scandalised by all the nasty things her friend said about someone she genuinely liked and cared for.
"No, let him continue." – Catherine's icy voice came from behind. She stood there, broomstick in hand, surrounded by Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter. Potter and Black also held their brooms, likely returning from the Quidditch Pitch where they had trained with Catherine for the try-outs. The boys looked livid, and Lily noticed Potter and Black already gripping their wands. The situation was quickly spiralling out of control, threatening to ruin the entire afternoon.
"Daisy…" – Lily started, unsure of what she could possibly say.
"It's fine, Lils. I'm very much looking forward to hearing the next part. If I'm not mistaken, after all the elaborate compliments Snape paid me, conveniently behind my back, he was about to ask me out. Aren't you, Snivelly?"
"In your dreams!" – the Slytherin almost growled, his black eyes swiftly darting between the Gryffindor boys who were holding their wands ready and snickering among themselves, clearly enjoying their friend's performance.
"Come on! I've always dreamt about going on a date with an overgrown bat with a squeaky voice! While all the other girls were fantasising about Prince Charming, I was dreaming of Prince Snivellus taking me to his magic castle in the depths of the Dungeons, where we'd live happily ever after without showering or brushing our teeth like a couple of ogres!" – Catherine recited with an artificially sweet voice, as Sirius, James, and Peter laughed so hard they had tears in their eyes.
"Like I would ever come within arm's reach of someone who Gryffindor boys pass around like a butterbeer bottle." – Snape retorted with a sly smile, though his skin was covered in red spots as he tried to disregard the witch's earlier statement.
"You fucking git!" – James hissed furiously, pointing his wand at the Slytherin – "Scourgify!"
"Supercilius Prolixus!" – Sirius shouted simultaneously.
Both spells hit the boy at the same time. In just a few moments, his eyebrows were growing uncontrollably, and he was spitting soap foam, desperate to find a way to retreat inside and possibly fix his grotesque appearance.
"Aren't you going to do something?!" – Lily screamed anxiously at Catherine, who was calmly watching the scene unfold from the sidelines.
"Well, I suppose I could have, but you see, it took quite some time for my hair to grow back to a normal length, and I'd rather not risk it by jumping between them." – she replied with a vengeful spark in her jade-green eyes.
"Finite Incantatem!"
Snape blinked a few times, relieved to regain his vision, then spat out the remaining foam onto the ground.
"I see you're not exactly quick learners, are you?" – Greg said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice – "Another evening of detention for Mr Potter and Mr Black. Naturally, Miss Plantier will join you. Report to Filch next Monday at eight."
"What have I done?" – Catherine yelled at her brother.
"Don't you have something better to do, McMahon? Why are you trailing us all the time?!"- James shouted, thoroughly fed up with his housemate.
"It turned out that the key to excelling as a Gryffindor Prefect is simply following you around, Potter!"- Greg grinned cheekily – "Wherever all of you go, rules are bound to be broken!"
"Bloody maggot!" – James swore after the fifth-year who departed, followed by Snape and the visibly angry Lily – "We need to figure out how to shake him off! We can't have a Prefect following us around all the time. We have things to do!"
"There's a silver lining in all this." – Sirius chimed in wisely – "At least Filch can't make us scrub toilets since you and Flame already did it Friday evening."