The Embittering of Severus Snape

Muriel stepped into the Leaky Cauldron through the back door, scanning the tables to be sure there was no one there she knew. Her eyes were drawn to the back corner, where someone had turned away from the door quickly at her entrance. She nodded to the bartender, Tom, and made her way over to the solitary figure. It was odd to see someone with his hood pulled up inside a bar. She couldn't see his face, but she could see a wisp of platinum blond hair that looked rather familiar.

A half-finished shot of fire whiskey was grasped in the man's hand, which was trembling ever so slightly. She could feel pain coming from him in flickers, like light from a candle's flame. When she reached out with her mind, she had to stifle a gasp. She sat down quickly. "Malfoy?" she whispered, her surprise making her voice louder than she'd intended.

"Quietly, Deesia!" he hissed through his clenched teeth. There were few people here, as it wasn't even lunch time yet, but his warning tone made her look around. When she looked back at him, she noticed the patch of midnight black seeping steadily across the shoulder of his dark gray robes. "Sod off, would you?" he said, a little more gently. Even if she couldn't read his thoughts, she would have known he didn't really want her to go. She narrowed her eyes. This was THE biggest git at Hogwarts. But she had a feeling this was too big a thing for her to walk away from. Her eyes focused on the black stain, which was still growing larger.

"There's blood seeping through your robes. If someone notices, you'll wind up in St. Mungo's and there'll be all kinds of trouble. Stay here until I signal for you, then follow me upstairs," she whispered. He looked up in shock, but nodded resignedly before turning his face back toward the wall. He was obviously afraid to be recognized. She paused a moment before tucking the telltale lock of hair down into his hood. When she pulled out her hand, there was blood on her fingers and her eyes widened worriedly. She'd better hurry.

It didn't take much to convince Tom to give her a room. He eyed her suspiciously for a minute before she forked over five extra galleons, then he gave her a key with a big grin. "School gets a bit stuffy, eh?" he asked, trying to be friendly. She sneered at him coldly before turning toward the stairs. On the first landing, she drew her wand and cast the Legilimens curse on Malfoy.

"Come on, mate. Room 13."

She felt his surprise. Naturally no one had ever spoken inside his head before. When he appeared at the bottom of the staircase, she shook her head. No way was he going to make it up to the landing. He was barely shuffling along as it was.

Hoping no one would notice, or at least that Tom would have the discretion to keep it to himself, she ran back down the stairs and put one of the tall boy's arms over her shoulders. He leaned on her heavily all the way into the room, then sat gingerly on the bed. She closed and locked the door, casting a few privacy charms for good measure. When you were dealing with a Malfoy it was best to be cautious. And she had a shrewd idea that she was in the middle of a Malfoy family feud.

"How long have you been bleeding?" she asked quickly, her tone business- like.

"I just got here a few minutes before you came in." His voice held none of the proud tone for which he was known, but Mur only nodded and helped him out of his robes. She doggedly ignored the dark mark that stood out hideously against his pale skin, and she hung out with Severus enough not to be embarrassed by the sight of a man in boxers. For some reason Malfoy found her nonchalance humorous.

"What?" she asked crossly as he stifled a chuckle. She pulled back the covers of the bed and he lay down on his stomach. "Sweet Merlin!" she breathed, before he had a chance to answer. His back was covered in cuts and welts, and he was bleeding profusely from at least six deep wounds. "I'm not sure there's much I can do about this."

She thought hard for a minute. She'd never learned a spell that would knit cuts that deep, but she was sure there must be one. And she DID know how to make a blood restorative potion. She used the towels from the bathroom to catch the blood, knowing that they were going to owe an awful lot of money when they left here for the ruined towels and bed sheets.

He watched as she went to the window and pointed her wand toward Diagon Alley. "Accio healer text," she said forcefully.

"I don't think that's going to work for you. You'd have to be an awfully powerful witch to summon something that far when you can't even picture it." Muriel ignored his words, noticing instead that he didn't sound NEARLY as derogatory as usual. He also looked even paler than was normal, which was really saying something. She needed to hurry.

The book whizzed into the room a few silent minutes later, a heavy volume that stung her hands when she caught it. Malfoy closed his eyes. He was in luck. If she could summon that strongly, maybe her healing spells would do the trick. It killed him to accept help from the blood traitor, but he couldn't very well go to St. Mungo's or Hogwarts, either. For one thing, people would ask questions. Not that Muriel wouldn't, he soon found out.

"So what did you do to deserve this?" she asked quietly, not looking up from the pages she was leafing through. He didn't answer. She mumbled a spell twice, getting the pronunciation down, and stood up. In only a few moments she had closed the six deepest cuts, as well as the one behind his head. She sat back down in the chair by the bed to look for something for the welts that hadn't broken the skin. Finally she looked up.

"Well?"

"I let you get the better of me in front of my Slytherin FRIENDS," he answered bitterly, his face turned away from her on the pillow. Muriel swore quietly, getting up again to wipe away the blood from his back.

"Malfoy, if I'd known - " She didn't finish the sentence, knowing that would be enough. She pulled the towel away as he sucked air hard through his teeth. "Alright?" she asked after a minute. Again, he didn't answer. This was so humiliating. A fourteen-year-old girl was saving his ass, and in a couple hours he was going to have to THANK her for it. What's more, she's the ONLY one who would have done it. Few people in the Wizarding World would ever put their will contrary to his father's.

"I didn't kill your bird," he said suddenly, making her pause again. She'd examined the cut on his head and determined that he probably had a concussion. It had obviously not been caused by the spell that had cut his back. She said the spell to alleviate his head injury before stepping back to think about what he'd said.

"I found Rena in your room, Lucius, the same day she turned up in my room mangled," she said wearily. Her common sense told her that he had to be lying, but when he turned his head to face her and she looked into his eyes, she knew that he wasn't. He really hadn't killed the bird.

"Avery transfigured a pigeon and put it in your wren's place. That's what you found. I was planning to give Rena back to you on the train, but he'd already killed her by the time I figured out what he'd done."

Muriel looked at him. To see anything in the eyes of a Malfoy besides hate and condescension was a new experience. But to see remorse: of all things? That was a once in a lifetime deal. She smiled.

"I believe you," she whispered. She wet a washcloth and gently cleaned the blood out of his hair. He didn't wince. "We're going to need to get you a blood restorative potion. I can buy the ingredients in Diagon Alley. Will you wait here? I'll only be a few minutes."

He caught her wrist as she turned to go. It worried her that he was holding it so weakly. It didn't even hurt! "You can't tell anyone about this, Mur," he said quickly. She smiled at him again.

"You can wipe my memory as soon as you're feeling up to it. Honestly, I don't think I'll be able to act like I hate you anymore, and we both know that we'll be doing this again if your father thinks you're fraternizing with the blood traitor." Lucius did wince at the mention of his father. She was right, and he was grateful that she didn't mind the memory charm. He was probably too weak just now to force it on her. He let her go, and she ran out the door.

He was fast asleep by the time she returned. She brewed the potion quickly. It had to simmer for a few hours, so she left again to buy the blue jeans that she'd come to London for in the first place. It seemed rather anti-climatic after all that had happened, but she had time to kill, and she really did want those jeans.

Lucius was pacing when she returned, about half an hour before the potion would be ready. When she narrowed her eyes at him, he got back in bed. He didn't speak to her, and she didn't speak to him, preferring to lock herself in the bathroom and try on her new trousers. When she emerged she got a raised eyebrow for her trouble.

"What do you think?" She spun around slowly, holding her jumper above her waist to show off the embroidery on the pockets.

"Officially?" he smirked. "I think you could dress up as a mudblood for Halloween next year." She gave him a withering glance and his smirk fell into a more serious expression. "They look great, but Severus will hate them."

"Only officially," she replied, gracing him with a smirk of her own, but wondering how he knew she had hoped to impress Severus. He laughed in spite of himself. "Tom's going to bring us up some lunch. The blood replenishing potion works much faster if you eat something." Of course Lucius, who was three years ahead of her in school, already knew this information, but he only nodded. The scathing remark she'd been expecting never came. Muriel shook her head. "You're not the man you pretend to be, Lucius," she said quietly.

"I'm not the man I'm expected to be, but that doesn't stop me trying," he answered, his voice suddenly hard again. She nodded. The children of dark families had a lot to live up to, as she well knew.

They ate in silence, and Muriel gathered her things to go. She walked half way down the staircase and stopped, her back to the door of the room Lucius would stay in tonight.

"Thanks, Mur," he whispered. She nodded. Then he hit her with the memory charm and closed the door quietly, breathing a sigh of relief. He had been lucky this time. He'd have to be more careful in the future. Especially since Muriel would probably try to humiliate him again now that she didn't remember their rather unlikely friendship.

Mur went back to Hogsmeade and met up with Severus, who approved of her new jeans, in spite of the fact that he rolled his eyes when he saw her. She just glared at him until he smiled and started telling her about what he'd done to the marauders without her.

* * * * * * *

Owl post arrived, and Muriel was surprised when a letter fell into her lap. It was from her mother. She looked up to see Severus staring at her. He held up a letter as well. Muriel swore. Two days before Christmas holiday this could mean only one thing. One of them was hosting the party, and she would have to go. Maybe she could talk her parents out of inviting the Averys.

She was anxious to get to Potions to ask Severus what his letter said, but was disappointed when she arrived to find their desk empty. She looked back out into the hallway just as the marauders walked passed, sniggering. 'Great, I suppose Sev is in the hospital wing, then,' she thought angrily. She calmed herself when she noticed Macnair, who sat behind her, staring at her. She winked at him and he smiled.

What she really wanted to do was dash out into the hallway and hex the ears off Black and his cronies, but instead she pulled out her mother's letter. Unfortunately she still didn't dare open it. It smelled faintly of something she couldn't place, and she wanted Sev to be with her when she opened it.

When Professor Warrington placed the potion ingredients before her, she began, following the instructions carefully. She fully intended to write Sev's name on the bottle too, so he wouldn't lose points for not being in class. She wanted the potion to be up to his standard.

They met after classes in the library. Severus had opened his letter on the way to potions, which is why he'd been distracted and managed to get himself hexed. Potter had hit him with a jelly legs curse, and it'd taken him most of the class period just to get up the stairs to Madam Kinnison. Mur thought he was still walking a bit funny, but decided not to comment.

"Smells like lilacs," he said, taking the letter from her and smelling it. Muriel made a face. Since when had her mother been interested in girly things like that? She tore it open, and was pleasantly surprised when nothing happened. She pulled another face as she scanned it, though.

"Looks like it's me, then. Maybe they'll let me stay at your place so someone can have my room."

"Doubt it. It looks from my letter to be a joint thing. Father says they're building a pavilion out by the lake and casting heating charms on the whole thing. We'll probably have guests at our house too." He fiddled nervously with his books, digging out the dream journal that he was keeping for Divination.

"You know this means Riddle will be there," he whispered suddenly, leaning forward. "They wouldn't go to all this trouble for a regular old party."

"Then I guess we can be glad that we're still underage." She looked back at her letter. "Mother says there will be a separate place for us. I think she's a little concerned about me meeting him, since I'm a blood traitor and all." She winked at Severus, who looked about to smile. But before he could do so, his eyes narrowed, and she turned to see that Black had come out from behind a shelf in the library. He was busy looking for something, however, and didn't seem to notice them.

Wordlessly, they gathered their things to leave. Mur was sure that Black was still upset about the duck incident, especially since she kept conjuring feathers and letting them float down to his desk during the classes they shared. More than once she'd seen him burn them to ashes with a spell.

It didn't take long to pack up her best robes. She made sure to get Marisa to write down those hair styling spells for her. It would please her mother not to have to help her this year, she knew. The train ride home with Severus was tense, and it only got worse when his father met them at the station.

They rode home silently in Mr. Snape's car. It was a long trip, but Muriel didn't dare talk to Severus about anything. It always seemed that no matter what Mr. Snape heard, he used it against Severus later. Mur couldn't count the times she'd regretted talking in front of Mr. Snape.

Nevertheless, she thanked him politely when they arrived home, and dragged her trunk inside. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Severus followed his father into their house, his head down. Her mother greeted her coldly at the door before charming her trunk to ascend the stairs. It was unusual for Mrs. Deesia to greet her daughter, and Muriel wondered where Papa was.

Mur closed the door to her room and began to unpack. But a movement near the woods caught her eye and brought her to the window. Mr. Snape and Severus were on their way down to the lake. Of course! Her father must already be working on the pavilion. Normally, when she and her mother were alone in the house, she would cloister herself in her room. She'd already been lectured on the way up the stairs about her request for blue jeans (which she had wisely left at school), and an owl that Dumbledore sent home implying that she was using other students to practice her transfiguration skills. Mur had just smirked. He didn't have any proof, which meant Black and Remus hadn't told.

Now, however, she did up her hair and changed into royal blue robes. They were a year old and a little short, but she had newer ones for the party. Her mother would appreciate the effort. She asked a house elf where her mother was, then went to find her in the family library.

"Mother? Might I go and watch the pavilion go up?" she asked cautiously when her mother looked up. She tried not to look nervous while Mrs. Deesia studied her. It had only been a few short months ago that Mur had first seen the dark mark on her mother's arm, and she didn't want her mother to know she'd seen it, though the memory was burned into her mind.

"I suppose you want to see your father. He is there. You may go." She waved her hand in dismissal as Mur murmured her thanks and ran to throw on a heavy cloak. Mur knew her mother had been impressed with her hair. She hadn't expected the woman to comment, but she'd known it would get her what she wanted.

She walked carefully down to the lake, following her father's footsteps in the snow. The woodland around her house really was beautiful as she followed the worn path toward the water. Each tree branch glittered with ice right to the tip. As the sun warmed the air, she could hear the plunk of dripping water all around her.

She couldn't help but gasp when she reached the lake. They had obviously heated it, as it wasn't frozen, and tendrils of white mist rose from it lazily. Only a thin layer of ice graced the water near the banks. In the center, a rotating pavilion floated several feet above the water. Obviously guests would apparate from the shore. Muriel chuckled. They certainly didn't want the children bothering them this year.

With a crack, she appeared beside her father, momentarily thrown off balance by the movement of the pavilion beneath her. He smiled. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful!" she exclaimed. And it was. House elves from both houses were running about putting up decorations of all kinds. White pillars and a low rail ran around the outside of the circle, holding up a high ceiling draped with mistletoe garlands. A huge tree stood in the center. Severus was standing near it, wand in hand. He turned at the sound of her voice.

"Help me with these, will you?" he asked. She hugged her father, then went to help Severus with the cage of live fairies that had to be bound to the tree. It was a shame they couldn't just ask them to live in the tree for a few days, but fairies were fickle, and it wouldn't do for them to decide to leave right before Riddle showed up.

Mr. Snape's warming charm worked well enough that Mur had to take off her cloak as they worked, in spite of the fading sunlight. By nightfall, the place was just about ready. The house elves would take care of the rest before tomorrow night, so they all headed back to the houses.

Muriel walked beside Severus with a smile on her face. He hadn't said anything, but she knew he'd noticed her hair, which made her unaccountably happy. She would do it this way for the party, too, since he liked it.

They spent the next day putting together a smaller pavilion for the children. Once the decorations were finished out on the lake, the house elves came to help them trim their own tree. It went quickly, and Mr. Snape even stopped by to cast his warming charm, though Mur had already told the house elves to build several fire pits around the pavilion and make sure they burned all night.

When they got back to the house, Muriel listened to her mother's instructions on greeting guests. The Malfoy and Avery families had been invited, but Malfoy was now considered an adult, so she wouldn't have to put up with him this year. Mur thought she could choke out a welcome to Avery if she had to, as long as he stayed away from her after that. She and Severus were expected to handle the children and make sure there was NO INTERRUPTION of the adults' party.

Sirius walked down from the houses behind his parents. Regalus trailed along after him silently. He couldn't believe he'd done this. She had heard him say that nothing would bring him to this party. Surely she would guess why he was here. He suppressed a sigh and looked around. Why WAS he here?

The main pavilion glittered out on the lake in front of him. It was definitely better than the Rosiers' party last year. He wondered if Snape had been right about Riddle coming. Perhaps that's why his mother had been so insistent.

His father pointed silently at a second pavilion at the lake's edge, then took Mrs. Black's hand. They both disappeared with a crack that was answered a moment later when they reappeared next to the fairy-covered Christmas tree on the main pavilion. Sirius led his brother over to where Mr. Deesia was speaking with Severus and Muriel. He caught the end of what her father was saying, and had his answer.

"Listen to me, both of you! Do not let ANYONE refer to him as "Riddle." You will call him the Dark Lord, or Lord Voldemort if you must refer to him at all. He has disposed of his father's name for good. Don't give him any reason to be angry." Sirius hung back as Muriel's father reached out a hand and placed it on his daughter's cheek. "He's a powerful Legilimens, Mur. Be especially careful." She nodded as her father disappeared with a pop.

Sirius noticed with irritation that they were the first to arrive. Well, no one had ever said his mother was fashionable in any other way, so he didn't know why he was surprised. He let Regalus run ahead. Snape shook his brother's hand, chatting easily with him. They were, after all, housemates. This reminded Sirius yet again that there wouldn't be a soul here from Gryffindor. The closest he was likely to get was Muriel, and she'd hated him for as long as he could remember. He took a deep breath, put his wand in his left pocket, so he could keep a hand on it, and walked up to the pavilion.

"I wondered if you were coming up or if you were just going to stand there," Mur said, smiling. Sirius felt his eyes narrow. Why was she being so nice? She shook his hand and invited him in, but he didn't want to turn his back to her. She laughed as he walked away, his eye still on her.

Well, no one was here yet except them, so she could be honest. "Relax, Black. I'm under strict orders to cause no trouble, so I'm going to be as nice as I can stand to be tonight." She grimaced at him and he smiled. He really did have a dazzling smile.

She was distracted with the arrival of the Averys. Thankfully, Severus shook their hands and gestured them inside. Muriel had a notion to turn Avery into something innocuous, like an extra candle for one of the tables, but decided against it. Jolina would tell, even if the Blacks kept their mouths shut. She watched them humorlessly as they stared daggers at each other across the room, before calling Severus over to greet Macnair, Crabbe and Goyle. Rosier and Wilkes arrived a few moments later, followed by Malfoy and Narcissa. Malfoy took a moment to smirk at them before apparating to the pavilion. The crowd was all here, now, and Mur turned to go into the pavilion herself when several more people she didn't know arrived. They invited them in, and Severus hurriedly cast an enlargement charm on the place. How many more people would be invited?

The newcomers were from everywhere. Several of Muriel's cousins from her mother's side arrived as well, and she introduced them to the Slytherins around her. Severus introduced the rest, since he had a better memory for names.

Sirius nodded as he was introduced but kept a sour expression on his face. His brother had gone to sit with his dorm mates, Rosier and Wilkes, and honestly he didn't want anyone to sit with him. If Muriel's mother had invited these new people, he was sure they weren't anyone he wanted to meet. He watched as Muriel stopped at each table to chat with them, smiling smugly when she passed Avery without a word. His smile vanished however, when she sat down with him. 'Here it comes,' he thought dryly.

"So, Black, ten points to Slytherin for getting you home for Christmas. Do I even dare ask how she threatened you?" Her hair was up in the same knot of curls she'd worn to the Halloween dance, and her dress robes, a deep purple fringed with black lace, came up high on her neck, though they were only held closed loosely with a silver clasp over her black dress. Her face took on an odd expression, and he realized he hadn't answered her yet.

"Er - Turns out no one dared to skive off, since Riddle was coming this year." Muriel narrowed her eyes at him. She knew he'd heard the instructions Papa had given her and Severus. Maybe he just wanted to see if she'd follow them.

"Hoping to catch a glimpse of Lord Voldemort?" she asked, just loudly enough to make a few of the younger children nervous. For that matter, Sirius seemed rather nervous as well, and didn't answer. He had suddenly remembered Mr. Deesia's warning, and knew she was correcting him.

"Mur? Macnair wants to know why we aren't dancing tonight. Don't tell me you danced with HIM at Halloween, too?" Severus' taunting voice cut through the chatter, and Muriel grinned wickedly. She left Sirius to himself, and walked over to the sniggering Slytherins.

"Well, I don't see why we couldn't dance, so long as someone sat out and kept an eye on the kids," she answered sweetly, knowing this would gall Sev to no end. She was right. He'd only meant to tease her for her choice in dance partners, not encourage her to dance with him again!

She summoned a house elf and instructed it to find a way to make music for dancing, ignoring her friend's scowl. Severus tried to clear his head. He'd read every book in the library on Occlumency, and was sure he could manage to block her out long enough for one dance. The house elves returned with a set of enchanted instruments from the Snapes' home, and they played unsteadily, though prettily enough.

He watched as she and Macnair spun around the Christmas tree, laughing, and wondered if that's how she'd looked at Halloween. He was suddenly sorry he'd missed it, and was surprised to find that he wasn't jealous. But then, he knew she didn't fancy Macnair, and he hadn't had any such assurance about Maverick.

Their foreign guests were dancing now as well. Severus looked around, satisfied. The dancing had been a good idea. Undoubtedly these young witches and wizards would report back to their parents that they'd had a good time. Mur was dancing with one of the Karkaroff boys now. He was talking with a thick accent. Severus smiled, knowing that without her particular ability to read minds, she'd probably be having a difficult time understanding.

"Igor, I was surprised you made it," Mur said lightly. She was dying to know why her cousins had come. It had been nearly four years since she'd seen them last. He mumbled something that made no sense, but Mur caught the meaning behind it. His father went were Voldemort went. She nodded and smiled. Lord Voldemort had supposedly been abroad garnering support for the last several years. It looked like it had worked.

Since the ridiculously old instruments tended to run their songs together, everyone was changing dancing partners haphazardly. Muriel thought it was a great deal of fun, until she found herself face to face with Sirius. She saw Sev start toward them and shot him a warning glance. He backed off. She couldn't afford to make Mr. and Mrs. Black angry by being rude to their son. Even if he didn't tell, it was inevitable that the Slytherins present would mention it to someone who WOULD tell. And her mother would be furious.

Almost before she'd had a chance to think it through, he had an arm around her waist. She let him take her hand, but soon realized that he had no idea how to dance. "Here, let me," she said quickly. An evening with Maverick had taught her more than she would ever need to know about dancing, and a moment later, she was leading them across the floor.

Sirius was amazed that she was letting him dance with her. He'd expected her to turn around when he stood up, but here he was, his arm still around her waist. She was avoiding his gaze, and he knew that any minute Snape would probably be here to pull her away.

His mind was scattering bits of thought around like confetti. He couldn't remember at what point he'd decided to stand up and dance with her. He remembered consciously deciding NOT to. It appeared that decision had gone out the proverbial window. She had turned him into a duck earlier this term! He ought to be furious with her, he HAD been furious. He'd sworn to turn her into something awful, just as soon as he got a little better at Transfiguration. But somehow all that had slipped his mind when he'd seen her dancing.

Muriel was trying to find Severus. She had no idea where he'd gone, but she could really use his help. She was confused by all the conflicting thoughts coming from her dance partner. One minute he seemed to be seriously considering tossing her in the lake, and the next it was as if he were actually pleased to have ended up dancing with her. For just a moment, she thought maybe he'd even TRIED to dance with her, but that couldn't be right. They hated each other, had for years. She was only dancing with him now so no one told her parents that she'd been rude to one of their guests.

That theory, however, was soon proven wrong as Avery tapped Sirius on the shoulder. "Let someone else have a go, Black," he said, making Mur wonder how long they'd been dancing.

"Er - actually, Avery, I think I need to sit down for a minute. Thanks, though." She left both boys standing on the dance floor and sat down quickly with Goyle and Crabbe, who looked at her angrily. She grinned, and Goyle's face softened a bit. Obviously Malfoy had told them not to be nice to her. It didn't matter, since without him here they were hardly dangerous. She gave Crabbe a sympathetic look, after all he was of age. It was no wonder if he was in a bad humor, having been relegated to the children's pavilion again.

Severus sat down beside her a moment later. "Where'd you go, I could've used your help back there!" she whispered, making Goyle snigger into his fist. It HAD been pretty funny to see her dancing with Black, of all people. Crabbe didn't laugh.

"You didn't seem to think you needed my help when he first grabbed you," Severus whispered back, teasingly. In fact, he'd found it very amusing to leave her dancing with Black as long as he could. "I just thought maybe you wanted some privacy."

"Prat!" she exclaimed, jumping up. Sirius, who'd just managed to get away from a very annoyed Avery without getting hexed, looked up from the dessert that a house elf had set in front of him.

Muriel knew Severus was trying to get under her skin, and it was working. She'd danced with just about everyone there, except him and Avery, and she wasn't going to dance with Avery. The thought had just crossed her mind when the boy in question took her elbow. "Ready to dance again, Mur?" he purred. She wiped the revulsion quickly from her face and turned calmly to him.

"Actually, Avery, I am. Severus just asked me to." There was a beat of silence before Severus took his cue and stood.

"If you'll excuse us," he said quickly. He was irritated at being maneuvered that way, but felt a grim satisfaction as Avery sat down in his seat, scowling hard at Crabbe and Goyle. He tried desperately to clear his mind as they walked out onto the dance floor. But he couldn't help but notice how pretty her hair was, and was dumbstruck for a moment when she told him she'd done it that way because she had noticed yesterday that he liked it. Obviously his feeble attempts at Occlumency weren't working. He cast about for any way to get himself out of this, and was relieved to see that Avery had raised his wand.

Avery wanted to stop the dancing as well, being more than a little annoyed at Muriel's second refusal. So, he transfigured the now-empty plate in front of Sirius into a duck. Instantly the pavilion erupted in laughter. Everyone from Hogwarts had heard about his brief stint as a fowl. Sirius turned very red, and unfortunately, he looked around quickly enough to see that Avery's wand was still in the air.

In moments Avery had several large boils appearing on his hands, and presumably the rest of him as well. The music ceased immediately as several more hexes flew. It was Severus who thought to put a silencing charm on the pavilion, which was good, since several people screamed when their noses turned into carrots, or their feet began to wobble. Muriel stunned Avery and her cousin, Igor Karkaroff, helped her with the rest. When everyone was unconscious except Igor, Sirius, Muriel and Severus, the latter two exchanged a meaningful glance. This couldn't get back to the adults.

"Black, do you know the counter curse for this?" Muriel asked wearily, pointing to the boils on Avery.

"If I did I would hardly be kind enough to perform it for the bloody git, now would I?" The duck had reminded him rather forcefully that he had no allies here, and he was smirking in a very self-satisfied way. Mur looked at Severus again and thought, 'I'll handle it,' at him. He nodded, understanding, and went to work on transfiguring carrots back into noses.

In the meantime, Muriel brought up her wand. Sirius took a hasty step backward. "Look, Black. Lord Voldemort is here tonight. If my parents get wind of any of this, I'm as good as toast. Since that is the case, one more hex won't get me in any worse trouble," she growled. "Now, fix Avery so we can put a memory charm on him and send him home happy!"

Sirius glowered at her angrily. "Fine!" he snapped, walking over to the slumped form and whispering the counter curse so she wouldn't hear it. He'd only just found that one, after all. No sense in giving away his secret before he could use it on her.

The house elves were instructed forcibly to lie to their parents if asked, and otherwise not to mention anything about the impromptu dueling. They all bowed and scrapped as though they would comply, but Mur and Sev knew it was only a matter of time before it came out. Still, at least no one would know except their parents. As long as the secret stayed in the family, they wouldn't get in TOO much trouble.

Severus thought briefly about putting a memory charm on Black as well, but decided against it. If he should miss on the first try, it would just cause another volley of hexes, and they really couldn't afford that. The party on the pavilion would be winding down soon, and they were only just going to get things back to normal before the adults came to get their children. Besides, Black never talked to his parents.

The music started back up, and Severus forced his mind into submission as he and Muriel danced. After all, SOMEONE had to be acting normal when everyone else woke up. By the time the adults started to head back to the houses, several people were dancing again. Severus was thinking very hard about potions ingredients while he and Mur danced, which was earning him the strangest looks. Once in a while, he grinned down at her and she shook her head. 'How can he possibly be thinking about potions right now?' she wondered. 'What a swot!' But she was enjoying what little of his attention she had, and said nothing.

Sirius was watching them angrily from a table. Thankfully, his parents lived close enough that they wouldn't be staying the night. He didn't bother to answer later on when his father asked if they'd had a good time. Regulus told them everything he knew, which wasn't much. Sirius locked the door to his room as soon as he got home, with no intention of coming out until it was time to catch the Hogwarts Express.