The Embittering of Severus Snape

On Christmas Day, James and Lily got up early to ask the House Elves if they could have breakfast in their makeshift hall. He didn't bother to make Lily wear a blindfold this time. Remus had told him about his conversation with Mur, so he knew Lily would keep their secrets. They went over early so she could show him the decorations. When Muriel arrived, she found them kissing under the mistletoe and had to force herself not to let the mirror slam closed to startle them. She waited patiently until they were finished, as they had done for her on the train, then cleared her throat.

The elves had a table set up and food laid out by the time everyone else arrived. It wasn't easy convincing the boys to eat first and open presents later, but they managed to eat a little while it was still hot before they sat down together on the rug that James had brought from the Gryffindor common room.

Peter passed out the presents, and there were many sounds of ripping paper and excited exclamations. Muriel paused as Sirius opened the first of the gifts she'd given him, a small smile on her lips. It was a shiny black motorcycle helmet, which he promptly put on.

"I DIDN'T THINK YOU EVEN REMEMBERED WHAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT THE BIKE," he shouted, thinking that his voice would be muffled inside the helmet. His friends covered their ears as Mur pulled the helmet off his head.

"You don't have to yell! I charmed it so that you could talk normally and be heard over the motorcycle. And you should be able to hear whoever is talking to you as well."

"Wicked! Thanks Mur!" He hugged her quickly before turning to the matching present and tearing it open as well. He pulled out a black leather jacket. "This is great! What did you charm it to do?"

Everyone laughed as Muriel explained that no matter how cold it got the jacket would keep him warm, and no matter how warm it got, the jacket would keep him from ove- heating. He threw his robes over the back of a chair and wore the jacket the rest of the day.

Sirius waited until everyone had finished opening their presents before handing Muriel the small gold box he'd been hiding. Everyone fell silent and Remus and Peter, who'd been testing out the latest Zonko's firecrackers away from the others, ran over.

Muriel looked around the group. Everyone was ignoring the rather impressive fireworks display and watching her instead. She felt herself blush as she slowly opened the package. Sirius nervously snatched the paper away when she set it down to open the box.

When she saw the ring she didn't exclaim or gasp. Instead, she bit her lip and waited. Was this really what she thought? If it wasn't, she didn't want to make a fool of herself by assuming. She looked up at Sirius and he met her eyes. He looked worried. Lily and James exchanged glances and Remus was biting his lip too.

Finally Sirius leaned over and whispered his question in her ear. The whole room seemed to sigh in relief as she threw her arms around him.

"Yes! Oh, Sirius!" He pried her arms off, and kissed her, grinning. Then he took the ring from the box and put it on her finger as the Marauders clapped and whistled.

Muriel couldn't ever remember being so happy. They stayed in the chamber all day. James and Lily made two more trips down to the kitchens and the House Elves brought lunch and dinner up to them as they tried out their new presents, and tried to plan a good use for their fireworks, preferably a use that wouldn't get anyone detention. Lily had brought an old Muggle music box that played Christmas carols. Sirius smiled his thanks to her as he and Muriel danced. The girls made sure to dance with Remus and Peter as well. After the night before, neither of them wanted anyone to feel left out, especially Remus.

"Well, Prongs, you'll be the best man, won't you?" Sirius asked as he pulled a chair around backwards and sat to watch the others dance. James followed suit.

"I'm already the best man." James smirked at him.

Sirius shoved him hard, making his chair rock up on two legs and fall noisily back to the floor. "At the wedding, Prat!"

"'Course I will! And you'll be the best man at ours." He looked over at Lily as she danced with Peter, who for once looked like he was really enjoying himself.

"What was that?" Sirius turned to his best friend. "When did you decide this?"

"When she first saw the ring you were giving Mur," he whispered, remembering how his heart had leapt as her eyes widened. "We'll pick out the ring next Hogsmeade weekend. Maybe we should tell the girls that we have to do something with that motorbike of yours and they should just go with Remus and Peter."

"Consider it done," Sirius said at once. He winked at James, then went to cut in as the song ended. Muriel, however, had other plans.

"I need to run down to my room. I want to write to Papa right away," she said as he approached.

"You can borrow my new quill," Peter said. Muriel raised an eyebrow at Sirius before she turned to answer.

"Er - thanks anyway, Peter, but I also haven't owled him his present yet, and that's downstairs." She turned back to Sirius. "Will you come with me?"

When the mirror closed behind them, Sirius laughed. "What did you do to Peter's quill?"

"Nothing, I bought it that way." She said vaguely.

"What way?"

"It writes the opposite of what he means. If he wrote a love note, it would say 'I hate you and you're ugly and I hope to spend eternity without you." They laughed all the way to Ravenclaw tower, and he waited outside while she ran up to find a quill and parchment. She wrote the note quickly and they went directly to the owlery, where she sent it off to her father.

Snow was swirling down toward them as they met in the Great Hall for lunch the next day. None of them had made it to bed before 3 AM the night before, and by mutual consent they'd decided to skip breakfast. James had invited Lily to accompany them into the forest, and she'd agreed in spite of the heavy snowfall. The catch was going to be getting out there without being seen. There was only one cloak, after all. They decided that the best thing to do was have Muriel teach them the invisibility spell, and after lunch they trooped back up to the fourth floor.

The House Elves had removed all their decorations, and it took only an hour for Lily and Sirius to learn the spell. Muriel was pretty sure she could cast a strong enough spell to cover her and Peter, which was good, since no one thought he was going to figure it out any time soon. Remus scrunched under the cloak with James. They set off early in the afternoon, running at full speed across the grounds and hoping their spells would hold.

When they couldn't see the castle anymore, they collapsed among the trees, panting and laughing. They explored for a while before James, Sirius and Peter became Prongs, Padfoot and Wormtail. Peter scrambled up to sit among James' antlers as Remus and the girls laughed. "I've hardly ever seen them as animals when I was still human," he said. Padfoot ran to Mur, who bent down to scratch his ears. He wagged his tail and barked before licking her face, getting drool from her chin to her forehead. Then he took off at a lope, followed by Prongs. She laughed, wiping her face on her robes. At first they ran after them, but soon enough they gave up, and sat talking at the base of a huge tree, lighting a magical fire to clear away enough snow to sit.

Remus, Lily and Muriel were startled when they looked up to discover that it was getting dark. As they stood, thinking it was about time to go looking for their 4-legged friends, a man stepped out from behind a nearby tree. "Muriel?" he asked.

"Papa? What are you doing here?" He stepped into a shaft of the fading light.

"I could ask you the same thing, young lady." Before anyone could react, he had stunned both Remus and Lily, who fell heavily to the ground. Muriel was shocked. She was sure that her father didn't think either Remus or Lily would have hurt her.

"What are you doing?" She had her wand out as well now, but she was confused. He took advantage of it to summon her wand to him, and it was then that she noticed the odd look in his eyes. She swore softly to herself. He was under the Imperious curse.

Instantly she scooped up Remus' wand and used it to cast the only spell she knew could save her. "Legilimens," she whispered desperately as her father approached.

In the Great Hall, Severus' head snapped up from his dinner. The girl across from him, whose mindless conversation he'd been ignoring, looked affronted as he stood and dashed out of the hall, pulling out his wand.

"Muriel, it is time for you to come home. We will be having company and it is very important that you are there to meet them."

Mur breathed a sigh of relief. Her father didn't know that she'd cast a spell. His steps were jerky, as though he was already fighting the curse. That must be why he hadn't noticed her picking up the wand. She measured her words carefully. "Of course, Papa. I will be glad to host a gathering at our home. Only let me run back to my room for my dress robes."

"There is no time, Mur. You have other dress robes at home. You must come immediately." His words were starting to slur as though he didn't want to say them, but his wand was still steady. She had to buy some more time. She spoke slowly.

"Yes, Papa. Only we must walk a bit further to be off Hogwarts' grounds before we can Apparate." This was a flat out lie, and it only took a moment for that to penetrate her father's mind. Muriel had her shield charm in place, however, before he was able to attack.

His stunning spell bounced back toward him, but he dodged it easily. She knew she was no match for him, but tried anyway. "Stupify!" she shouted as he made for her again. Again, he dodged the curse and came forward. She hid behind trees and dodged his spells as best she could, occasionally trying to stun him, but never hitting him.

"Petrificus Totalus," a deep voice said forcefully from behind her father. Muriel stepped back as her father fell toward her, her own spell dying on her lips.

"Sev, thank Merlin!" Muriel breathed. It was nearly dark now, but he was staring at her as if he could look right through her. She placed bonds on her father, then turned to him.

"Thank you. He was under the Imperious curse and - " she didn't finish because Severus had already turned and was walking quickly away. She felt the tears on her cheeks before she'd even realized that she was crying. How could he walk away like that without a word?

Severus saw something gleam on her hand and stared at it. He knew what it was, of course. When she cast the Legilimens spell he'd gotten a lot more than just the information she'd been trying to send, as had always been the case. He turned to go. There didn't appear to be anymore immediate danger, and he knew he couldn't keep his silence if he stayed. He was nearly out of the trees when he heard her call after him.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" she cried at his back. He was so far away now that she could hardly see him in the darkness. Then suddenly he appeared before her with a loud crack. His face was only inches from hers and she backed up suddenly, hitting the nearest tree hard, her hair swinging forward to cover her eyes. She pushed it away nervously.

James, Sirius and Peter, on their way back to find their friends, heard her and ran to the sound. They stopped suddenly when they saw Muriel's father bound on the forest floor and Severus standing very close to Muriel. James put a hand on Sirius' arm to keep him from moving forward. "Let her handle it," he whispered.

"I want you," Severus said forcefully as he reached down and brought her left hand up between their faces, "to tell me that you never loved him. I want you to give this back to Sirius Black and marry me instead!"

Her mouth fell open. Slowly she began to shake her head. "Severus, I - " He leaned down quickly and kissed her hard. She could feel the urgency in him. He was shaking. Instinctively she kissed him back. Her hand, which he still held tightly, grasped his. It was what she'd waited for all her life.

James and Peter each had one of Sirius' arms as he struggled to get to Muriel. "Give her a chance, Padfoot," James whispered furiously. Sirius stopped straining, but his eyes were hard and his jaw set angrily as he stared ahead.

Muriel lifted her other hand and pressed it against Severus' chest, pushing him slowly but firmly away. He leaned his head forward, keeping his lips on hers as long as he could. He could feel her pain and knew what she would say. He would be lucky if she didn't transfigure him into a fish and leave him to flop on the ground, but he wanted to feel this for just a moment longer. He kept his eyes closed and waited.

"Oh, Severus," she whispered. "Two years ago this would have changed everything."

He opened his eyes, careful to show no further emotion. He dropped her hand and Apparated to the Hogs Head with every intention of getting very drunk.

Muriel stood for a moment with her hand still held out before her, then sank down to the base of the tree, sobbing uncontrollably. James and Peter let go of Sirius, who didn't move. "She chose me," he said finally, watching her as she wrapped her arms around her knees and cried.

"Of course she did, mate. She loves you." The three boys didn't have to discuss it to decide that Muriel should never know that they'd been there. They watched as Remus stirred and sat up. He went over to Muriel, who ignored him until he knelt down in the snow and put his arms around her.

Sirius finally turned to James. "He'll take care of them. We should go." James nodded and Sirius noticed that he was rubbing his shoulder. "What happened?"

James grinned. "You. I think it's dislocated. You were really trying to get over there. Look at Wormtail." Sirius turned to Peter, who was not only rubbing a shoulder, but also sporting an impressive shiner. He put an arm around each of them. "Sorry, mates. Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey." They headed off back to the castle.

Remus held Muriel, keeping an eye on Lily until she stirred and sat up, confused. "Get her wand," he whispered, gesturing toward Mr. Deesia.

Lily wasn't sure why Muriel was crying, but she did know that they needed to get out of the forest. It was long after sundown and very cold. "What should we do with him?"

Mur looked up, suddenly falling silent. "Leave him," she choked, struggling to stand up. "Let's get out of here." She handed Remus his wand and took her own from Lily before approaching her father. In an instant she'd petrified him again and released his bonds. Then she hit him with a memory charm. She didn't speak to him, but instead turned toward the castle in silence.

Remus kept his mind carefully closed, not wanting Muriel to know that he'd witnessed Severus' proposal. He followed the girls back to the castle, wondering what had become of James, Sirius and Peter. He found out as they passed the hospital ward to find the three of them coming out, James and Peter carrying flasks of potion, and Peter with an ice pack over one eye. Sirius met his eyes, and it only took Remus a moment to realize that they'd seen it all.

"Where've you been?" He asked cautiously, just as Sirius asked Muriel, "What happened, are you alright?" She nodded as he put his arm around her.

James took Lily's hand. "What happened?"

"I'm not really sure. We'd just decided to go looking for you lot when Muriel's dad showed up. The next thing I remember is seeing Mr. Deesia on the ground and Mur crying."

"We were stunned," Remus added. They walked a bit behind Sirius and Muriel, and when they headed toward Ravenclaw tower the other Marauders didn't follow.

Lily hugged James hard before going up to bed. She was worried about Muriel, but it didn't seem that anyone knew any more than she did, and she was sure the boys would compare notes and figure out what happened. James would tell her about it later.

When they heard her door close somewhere upstairs, James turned to Remus. "How much of that did you see?"

Remus shook his head. "Enough. I missed the duel Mur must have had with her father. By the time I could open my eyes Severus was already talking. I think he asked her to marry him instead of Sirius."

James was nodding. "So we heard." He rubbed his shoulder uncomfortably.

"Sirius did that?" Remus asked. He looked over to Peter, who was lying on his side on the nearest couch, the ice pack over his eye.

"I wanted him to give her a chance to decide for herself. He was hard to convince." James grimaced and drank some of the potion Madam Pomfrey had given him. "You didn't, by any chance, hear what she said to make him leave?"

Remus looked down. "She said that two years ago that would have changed everything, but I don't think we should repeat it to Sirius."

"Agreed," James said. Peter nodded as well. "And we can't mention any of this to Lily. She doesn't know Occlumency, and we were lucky she didn't accidentally ruin the engagement surprise." By the time Sirius entered, they had come up with plausible excuses for their injuries, which he was careful to memorize. Muriel hadn't wanted to talk much tonight, but soon enough she and Lily were going to want to know what had happened to them, and why they had gone back to the castle instead of meeting them in the forest.