Ad Mortem Festinamus

Severus' impression to be a divorce child would have deepened that evening, if it hadn't been for his enormous pride and the struggle not to let it show too clearly. He was on his way to his Head of House's club-evening for selected students. Was he on his own? No! Was he accompanied by one of his great friends? Nope! He was accompanied by both of them! Walking right between them! Ha! He would enter that office together with the two coolest people in the whole school, beat that!

Lucius was similarly pleased. He couldn't remember when Narcissa Black had last permitted him so close. That she didn't give him a single smile was a minor drawback. All in due time. She looked magnificent though, like always. And Severus was a bright kid who was also well-instructed. He'd know what to do.

Professor Slughorn expressed his delight when the royal couple entered his study, especially welcoming Miss Black and almost completely ignoring Severus, but Narcissa would not have it. She smiled sweetly, and answering the question what had made her change her mind and attend the meeting, she said with a honeyed voice, "Because of Severus here. He positively enthused on the previous gathering, and swore that I just had to come, Sir."

Andromeda stifled a giggle and stuffed her mouth with a pastry instead. She also silenced her cousin who was about to open his mouth by urging him to take a piece as well, and munching, she murmured, "Bite your tongue, cos."

He obeyed in so far that he kept his voice low, "I get sick with that regal attitude! Who does she think she is!"

"My little sister, so shut up."

"And the other two jerks?"

"Malfoy certainly is a jerk, but why don't you just leave the kid alone? I don't get it!"

"Malfoy's lapdog? Two of a kind!"

In the meantime, Lucius, Narcissa and their charge had settled in some very comfortable armchairs and been equipped with drinks - Severus had done as Lucius had told him. Picking the most comfortable chair at first and then, when his two friends had taken their seats at his sides, he'd suddenly notice that his own chair was much more comfortable than Miss Black's and urging her to trade places. Well done, kid!

Narcissa would have meant that Malfoy had contrived this little manoeuvre, had she believed Severus capable of such a scheme. Malfoy had this inner drive - nay, obsession - to make a pass at every girl coming his way. He had tried it with her, too, at the start of her Second Year, and as soon as she had consented to go to Hogsmeade with him - yes, she had been so incredibly naïve - he had pulled off the mask and shown his true face to render her the national laughing stock in front of all of his insipid mates. She didn't put it past him though that he'd make another attempt to test how silly she could be, and no, she wouldn't grant him another victory for his insatiable vanity.

Narcissa had been to only four or five of these meetings in the four years she was in Hogwarts, the last one being more than a year ago, so she gazed around quite curiously now. Who were the uprising hopes of the wizard community? Because Slughorn had an eye for this. He recognised people who would make it far, be it for their talent, or other qualities likely to advance them.

Here were the members of her own family, invited because they were Blacks and thus prone to make it very far in life. The same was true for Lucius Malfoy and Frank Longbottom from Gryffindor, old blood, old money. Damocles Belby was the son of his father and a brilliant potioneer himself, Everett Bobbin from Ravenclaw would inherit the country's largest chain of apothecaries. Next to them, there was Bertram Higgs, recommending himself both by heritage and talent - the only thing he basically sucked at was Quidditch. Tallulah Tatting, a Seventh Year from Hufflepuff, was the startlingly pretty granddaughter of Macaulay Tatting, the current manager of Twilfitt and Tatting - oh, by the way, she had been going out for three weeks last year with Malfoy, too, of course. Who hadn't.

That were the students she knew by sight and name - much more interesting were the others. The most eye-catching was a girl in robes bearing the Gryffindor crest. Judging her height, she was a First Year, and she was uncommonly cute. Her hair was a blend of mahogany and red, but more intriguing yet were her eyes - almond-shaped, impossibly green eyes. For a minute, Narcissa wondered if the girl was here due to her blossoming beauty or because of her talent. She forgot that Severus no longer sat next to her right side, slightly bowed over and whispered, "Who are the two girls, and the boy with the glasses?"

Lucius was surprised and elated to hear her addressing him, and most ready to reply in a low voice, "Gaspard Shingleton - Ravenclaw, talent for charms, Anthea Penrose - Hufflepuff, niece of old Phoebus, and Lily Evans from Gryffindor, potions."

She gave a start when realising who she was talking to, but what the heck. "Which one is the redhead?"

"Evans."

She nodded and went back to observe the unknown kids. Slughorn was relating some boring story, and she already regretted that she had come in the first place. So far, Sirius had behaved, but she didn't deceive herself whose merit this was. Maybe she should simply talk to Andy and ask her to have a look at Sirius to leave Severus alone?

Her mind trailed off - she constructed potions in her head when she had nothing better to do, it was a good training for memory - when she was awoken again by a soft nudge from Malfoy. She realised that Slughorn seemed to be talking to her, and Malfoy muttered under his breath, "You - supervising - Potions Club -"

"Bloody hell," she whispered just as lowly, but smiled at their teacher.

"What do you say, Miss Black?"

"Nah... I'm not the right person for this sort of thing, Sir."

"Nonsense! You'd be perfect! You're an ace in potion-making, and our younger talents, like Severus and Lily here, could benefit greatly from your guide and experience!"

"Sir, I'm not made for guidance, I assure you."

"She's also very busy with her studies, Professor. Magnificence is hard to achieve," Malfoy butted in. She was almost grateful, especially when seeing Slughorn's now pensive face.

"Yes... I see, yes... Well, perhaps you will allow that occasionally, some younger student can ask you and Mr Belby here for help with their homework still...?"

"Certainly, Sir," Narcissa said, and gave an inaudible sigh of relief. Nobody would dare to approach her; except little Severus perhaps, and she was always glad if she could be of help for him. He was such a pitiful creature.

The evening went along with useless chit-chat, although Narcissa did not mind it so badly as feared. Some of Slughorn's favourites were fairly smart after all, making sensible remarks, and even Lucius Malfoy wasn't exclusively the spoilt, silly brat that she had taken him for. Why would this guy waste his time with his moronic buddies and Quidditch if he was so clever? And eventually, she could also fulfil her purpose for which she had come.

Sirius taunted his favourite foe and received a befitting rebuke from his cousin. They glared at each other, Sirius angry, Narcissa disdainful, both forgetting about the reason for their little fight and focusing on their own feud. Slughorn was standing in front of a bookshelf, searching for a certain book he meant to give to Belby, but all the students curiously watched the two combatants. Sirius drew his wand with a challenging expression, pushing down Andromeda's hand that meant to keep him out of trouble.

"Go ahead, cousin, if you dare," Narcissa said coolly. "But I don't believe even you could be that silly."

"Who do you think you are, Cissily?"

"It doesn't matter who I am. What counts is that I'm quicker than you." She smiled brightly, not bothering to take out her wand just yet.

Andromeda stepped between them, scowling at both of them alternately. "Stop this shit at once, both of you! Are you out of year heads?"

Narcissa was smiling still. "What did I do, then?"

"Put away your wand, Sirius! Honestly, this is beneath you!"

He obeyed reluctantly, hissing, "One of these days, Cissily, one of these days!"

Slughorn returned with the book he had looked for, noticed the tense atmosphere and asked witlessly, "Gryffindor versus Slytherin, eh? There are still two more matches to go for Gryffindor, Mr Black, you still have the technical chance of making it."

Sirius gawked at him, incredulous with so much thickness. Narcissa suppressed to laugh, like most others, and couldn't help it but kindle the fire some more, "But it's only a technical chance, isn't it? You're not going to allow them to win, are you, Lucius?"

Lucius was surprised, and delighted with such a friendly address. "Absolutely not."

"Since when do you have a clue about Quidditch, Cissily? You know how many balls are involved?" Sirius cried.

"I know enough to understand that our team is the best by far. Isn't that right?" She innocently gazed around, aware that the room was full of Slytherins, each one of them a Quidditch enthusiast. In this moment, he loved her. Positively loved her. Sure, she simply meant to tease her unbearable cousin, but still. She had never before said anything remotely nice about him, or to him. Now she looked at him, smiling shark-like. "I have all faith in our Captain to win this year, yet again."

She calculated that annoying her Quidditch-obsessed cousin would outweigh flattering Lucius Malfoy's vanity by far. The other present Slytherin students, except Andromeda who loathed him, applauded wildly, Sirius adapted a greenish tinge. Before dismissing them all, Slughorn elicited Narcissa's promise to come the next time, too, and she, Severus, Lucius and Damocles Belby left together. The latter received a clandestine nudge from his room mate to speak up.

"Coming back to Slughorn's idea, Narcissa - can I persuade you to come to one of our next potions club meetings?"

"Isn't it enough that I endure Slughorn's own club evenings?" she replied surly.

"But that's different! I should truly like to work with someone who knows their recipe, and I've heard great things about your proficiency!"

"And I have heard in turn that you need no help for being an excellent potioneer yourself, Belby. I'm not cut out to be a team player, you're better off on your own."

She thought this had been it, but she was mistaken. Only a few days later, she was approached by the girl with the startling eyes, whose name had slipped her for the moment. For a minute, she was irritated with some stranger, a Gryffindor even, addressing her, but then she realised with some surprise that the girl knew what she was talking about.

"Professor Slughorn has mentioned Memory Potions in our class, and from Severus Snape I've heard that you possess Hector Dagworth-Granger's Compendium on Dragon Blood, which appears to cover the subject. I wonder if you would lend me the book?"

"What is it with you First Years nowadays? You won't have it before your Fourth Year!"

"I simply like to experiment."

She shared nothing of Severus' inhibition or submissive air, in fact she was lively and self-confident, looking straight into Narcissa's eyes, smiling. She lent her the book, and a couple of others she'd ask for in the upcoming weeks, growing increasingly interested in the girl. If she truly understood what she was reading there -

"You've got classes with that Evans girl, Severus, haven't you? Is she any good?"

"She's really good with potions. And charms."

"Perhaps you should study with her then. Her lecture for Potions is extraordinary."

"She's already studying with Damocles Belby."

"Yes, so what? Join them! He's excellent. Total genius in potion-making. You can only profit from his knowledge."

"No, I'd rather not... I'm not - you know... I don't fit in there..."

"For Merlin's sake, Severus, we really need to work on your self-esteem. The Evans girl hasn't only got a muggle father, but a complete set of muggle parents, and do you see her hiding away because of that? And if Belby is practising with her, he doesn't appear to mind either!"

"It's not only that... She's really good, you see... I don't want to make a fool of myself..."

"You achieved an 'O' in your last test, didn't you?"

"But only because you've helped me."

She rolled her eyes and used the following evenings to make her little protégé fit for joining Belby and the Evans girl. He was good enough in her opinion, but with a little training, he was genuinely excellent, even more considering that he was merely a First Year. Eventually, she even agreed to accompany him to his first meeting, as a bit of psychological backup. Belby was surprised, though not unpleasantly, to see her, and in return, Narcissa got a pleasant surprise that night finding how much she was enjoying herself. Belby did know what he was doing, the Evans girl was an amazing talent too, Severus performed habitually well, and in the end, she thought she'd have to revise her opinion on clubs - a certain kind of club, at least.

"And? Coming back next week?" Belby asked with a grin.

"I've got to see if the concoction turns out right, haven't I?"

They met every Thursday night at seven o'clock, with a special permission by Slughorn to trespass curfew if necessary. Quite incredulously, she registered that she was finally drawn into this whole school business, something she had successfully avoided for more than three years. Once a week she met with her potions club, every fortnight, she attended Slughorn's meetings, and Severus talked her into watching the match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw - it was his only wish for his birthday.

She liked Damocles, or 'Cle', as his mates dubbed him. He was a genius, no doubt about it, single-minded, inventive, creative, and they all benefited from his engagement. He in turn would admit that the 'kids' - even Narcissa was two years his junior - inspired him to further greatness by contributing brilliant ideas. Old Horace Slughorn was very satisfied with himself.

One of the rather charming aspects of Damocles was the fact that he made no whatsoever attempt to get off with her. Despite the fact that Narcissa wasn't fifteen yet, approximately five dozen boys had tried to ask her out so far, and it was getting severely on her nerves. Why couldn't they just leave her to her peace? Was that truly too much to ask? Were they keen on being humiliated, or did they truly believe that she'd make an exception for the one asking? That they were more special than their fellows?! However, Damocles wasn't like this. He treated her with respect and nothing else, seeing a potion expert in her, not a pretty girl.

She had no idea why Damocles was so unobtrusive. It wasn't as if he was oblivious of her sparkling beauty, or her tremendous wit. In fact, he found her the more perfect the better he got to know her. Still, his own room mate and friend Lucius had such a terrible crush on her, he didn't have the heart to approach her in any other way than that of friendship. His mate was jealous enough as it was.

"Why do you forbid me to come?" Lucius asked, lurking. "There's something going on there, be honest!"

"Yes, there is something going on, namely serious potion-making, Luce! And that's also the exact reason why I do not ask you - the two First Years would put you in their pocket. Sorry, pal, but it's true! You haven't got the standard to -"

"Perhaps I'd be less substandard if you allowed me to come!"

"These aren't extra lessons, Luce. Come on, you don't want to make a fool of yourself in front of her."

"I got good marks in Potions!"

"I don't say you hadn't! But for once, Sluggy loves you, he'd never give you a bad mark, and then, you simply do what the book tells you. You haven't got the right sort of spirit for -"

"Stop quibbling, mates," Graham said in his sonorous bass. "And why don't you let him go just once, Cle, it's his business after all."

Damocles turned his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head. "Luce, I'm your friend. For all I care, come as you like, but as your friend, I also seriously advise you not to."

After his first outrage had cleared off, Lucius did realise that Damocles wasn't entirely wrong, and no, he had no taste to be humiliated in front of Narcissa. But it needn't be like that, right? He interviewed his room mate about the upcoming plans of their study group and for the first time in more than half a year, he actually went into the library. He also wrote home to have one of the servants send him a bunch of books, and seriously began to study and catch up. Some First Years, beating him! Ph!

This new commitment got in the way of some of his other hobbies. Being Captain of the team, he could impossibly cut back on Quidditch practise. Having little attention to live a monk's life in celibacy, he had to share his remaining time among his respective girlfriends and his buddies. Neither took that very kindly. He and some of his closest friends had a club of their own, and since there were seven of them, they had come up with the name 'Sepulture Septuplet' - corny, all right, but you try and find a better word matching 'Septuplet'. Next to Lucius, there were Damocles - 'Cle', Graham - 'Golly', Marlon - 'Crabs', Evan - 'Rosie', Bertram - 'Bertie', and Horatio - 'Gibbs', and the lot of them had fun. Honestly, fun.

There was plenty of money between them, ample of talent, and most of all, a hunger for adventure and challenge. They vied with each other, coming up with various stunts and pranks, collecting trophies, discovering ways out of the school, they had fantastic parties - public ones in the Slytherin Common Room, clandestine parties in secret places only for themselves. Cle, for example, had made himself a name for actually managing to slip a Giggling Potion into the kitchens, spiking tea and coffee for all house tables, and the staff. Golly and Crabs, less clever than their friends but all the more mischievous, had set all the school's nibblers free, causing havoc at breakfast time because the little buggers had invaded the Great Hall and hurled themselves at every piece of shiny metal they would find, regardless whether it was jewellery, cutlery or tooth braces. Gibbs had transformed the central court yard into a snake pit, and Lucius had excelled himself by gaining two free days for all the students. He had invented a couple of spells to block every class room door, jam the corridors and confound the staircases.

They had given themselves rules, naturally, and albeit rule number one being complete secrecy, there were little doubts among students and teachers who was in and who wasn't. Narcissa knew it, too, and if she hadn't, she would have learnt it by her acquaintance with Damocles, because the other six regularly turned up to fetch their mate. Whenever she met Lucius Malfoy, he showered her with compliments, and one evening in late February, he even dared to attend one of their potions club meetings.

She sneered at him. "Wrong door, Malfoy. This is the potions club. For people who are apt at potions, you understand? That girl you're probably looking for must be in the room next door."

Damocles burst out cackling, but seeing his friend's scowl, he pretended to cough. Malfoy's face transformed as well; he smiled brightly at Narcissa and exclaimed, "The only girl I'm looking for is you, Black. Cle's told me about your latest work, and my father has made it very clear what will happen if my marks do not improve. Come on, give me a chance to prove you that I'm not the moron that you take me for."

"Big talk, but that's your speciality, isn't it? Come on then. But I've got to warn you - Lily here is a Gryffindor. Bear in mind that her entire house will laugh at you if you mess this up."

Even though she was only a First Year, and muggleborn to boot, little Lily grinned and stepped forth, waving boldly. 'Good girl,' Narcissa thought gleefully. 'Stupid cow,' Lucius thought, but did not cease smiling. He was well prepared - he would glory in Narcissa's presence, plus he could have an eye on Damocles and her. And he would show the little mudblood her place.

Narcissa closely observed each of his moves, keen to discover a mistake. Sadly enough, she found none - he was no ace, but he wasn't half as bad as she had expected either, and once again she asked herself why he wouldn't make more of himself. Some practise, some interest to begin with, and he could be great! Truly great!

"How am I doing, Black?"

"You should be more exact."

"I prefer to think on the grand scale."

"Story of your life, Malfoy!"

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Noli... Don't disturb my circles.