Elemental Magic

THE HEADGIRL

When I woke up the next morning the first thing that came to mind was what happened yesterday and thinking about that brought about the last remains of the Cruciatus Curse. I wearily got out of bed and got into my normal black robes, and then I sat down in front of my potions table and checked if I had all the ingredients to make an antidote for the Cruciatus Curse. To my amazement I found out that I was lacking some orange snail shells, which would mean that I was going to have to go to Diagon Alley again. Just as I was ready to Dissapparate, Lucius's face appeared in the fire which (even though I was used to it) still made me jump. I turned towards the fire and shouted, "What?"

"I just decided to call you to see if you were..." drawled Lucius.

"I'm ok! So please go. I'm a very busy person!" I snarled.

"Ok, ok! There's a meeting tomorrow at..." I never heard the rest of the sentence as I had already Apparated to Diagon Alley and started strolling towards the apocathery. This was supposed to be a quick errand, but to my surprise, I saw a person whom I had not even thought of meeting after I joined the Death Eaters: Lily Evans. Former Prefect, Former Head Girl. From what I gathered, she left Hogwarts with six NEWTS, and two years later got married to that despicable Potter and secured her position as an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries. Married to Potter. What a total waste of a life.

Suppressing my resentment, I walked up to her. My thoughts were in turmoil; I wanted to talk to her, to provoke her, to taunt her for what filth she was. I was after all a Death Eater; that was what was expected of me. Another part of me just wanted to walk away, away from potential Potter induced violence. Merlin knows I did not need anymore bad memories than I already had. Yet deep inside a part of me wanted to talk to her as I had done in our school years, during the few precious moments when that dog Potter wasn't hanging around her like a vulture, without insults, without hurt, an amiable, intelligent conversation between two friends. Were we ever friends?

Without thinking I walked over to her. She was standing with her back to me, examining a mannequin in a window.

"Evans? Or should I say Potter?"

She whirled around, green eyes snapping to mine and gazing into my very soul. I never liked her eyes. In truth, they were worse than Dumbledore's, penetrating my very core, my soul...my secrets.

"Severus?"

"Memory loss?" I couldn't help my self. I guess it didn't take Potter and Black to bring out my worst.

Eyes flashed. Green. "No, unfortunately."

This had been was a mistake. Just two words. Two. All I needed to turn a friend into an enemy. What amazing talent. This was not going how I imagined it would. What was I doing? What was I hoping for? Why did I even care?

"Is being an Unspeakable a stepping stone to being unapproachable?" I forced my voice into something approaching pleasant. I cannot and will not ever achieve the full effect.

"Yes...I mean no... How? How did you know?"

"See this rounded thing, Evans? There are two, one on each side of my head. They're called ears. Their function, I believe, is to listen and to hear."

There we were again. The stare was on. Full power. She seemed to be battling within herself. I took a step backwards, conscious of all the practice she had had in slapping. Potter made good practice.

"Oh, Severus." Evans was smiling. Smiling? However, there was something else in her eyes that made my hackles rise. Pity.

It took all of my self-control not to lash out. Not to heap insult upon insult on her. I, Severus Snape, cold-hearted torturer, ruthless killer, pitied by a Mudblood?

"Yes, I am Severus, you are Evans...I thought we already established that. Can we proceed?" I remarked coldly, not comprehending why I was still standing here continuing a conversation that wasn't going anywhere.

"Where have you been, Severus? It's been years since I last saw you. You didn't even tell Horace your plans! You didn't even come to his last party!!!

"I didn't know you cared, Evans." I raised my eyebrow, genuinely surprised.

"Please, Severus, can you drop the high act already? There's nobody here to hear your insults except me. So no more sarcasm, ok? Unless you mean it."

What makes you so sure I don't? I nearly said, but something stopped me. Lily's figure. She had always been a slim, shapely woman. Therefore, it did not take the eyes of an eagle to distinguish the slight bulge in her abdomen that was independent of obesity.

"...something preoccupying you other than a new potion? Hmm...? C'mon you can tell me. Have you met a girl?" I didn't reply. She was pregnant. Pregnant by Potter. It had been just two years since we left school; two years that I had wasted among steaming cauldrons and noxious fumes. Two years that I spent worshipping the Dark Lord, governing my every move to gain his approval. Two years trying to feel accepted. What was she thinking? Lily Evans was not the type of woman to sit around nursing a baby and warming her husband's dinner, but now that's exactly what she'd end up being. Just another wife. The trophy wife of James Potter.

"Are you serious, Lily?" No girl in her right mind would fall for him! No girl other than some poor chick who'd accidentally drunk one of his love potions.

"Is that why you've disappeared lately, Snape? Busy making L'amour de Snivellus?"

Bloody Potter had arrived at the scene. I took my time turning to face him. No point in spinning like a top and giving away how nervous I really was. It's funny how even after all of these years apart all my hatred and all my loathing can fire up at just one word from him. I'm sure that no matter what universe we are in, no matter if we're wheezing old men or babies in diapers, Potter will always hate me and I, him.

"James, stop it. You will NOT revive a stupid high school grudge. Not after all these years. I will not..."

"C'mon, Lils, I don't know how you can stand talking to him. Especially knowing what crowd he's hanging around with. Tell me, Snape, if you haven't been making love potions, what exactly have you been doing?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Potter. But I believe that using love potions to get a girl to like you is better than getting her pregnant and forcing her to marry you." I didn't look at Lily; I could imagine the look of anger and hurt on her face just as clearly without looking. Well, it served her right! Throwing away all her potential just to bring up a monster with Potter's genes in it? But in my heart I knew that it wasn't Lily's wasted potential that made me so angry.

In a flash Potter's wand was out and aimed right at my heart. Mine was not. I was no fool. We were in the middle of Diagon Alley in broad daylight. I knew that no matter how badly he wanted to curse me, he could not do so; he loved being an Auror too much to risk losing his post.

"You take that back, you slimy piece of shit," Potter's voice shook with raw, barely suppressed emotion. "Truth hurts doesn't it, Potter?" His face darkened and he stepped forward until he was mere inches from me.

"James! No! Let's just go," Lily cried, but Potter wasn't finished.

"The truth, Snape, is that one day I'll prove to the whole world what foul scum you are. I'll have the pleasure of dragging you to Azkaban and, before I hand you to the Dementors, I'll make sure that you pay for this day, you'll pay with your..."

"What'll he pay you with, James? Please don't say he'll hand over his underpants, because, Prongs, old pal, I don't think you'll survive another encounter with Snivellus's knickers."

Shit! Black. This cannot be happening. I felt cornered and smothered even though we were in the middle of a wide, windy street. I twisted aside and took two paces back in order to face them both. "Well, well, well, the mutt is here. Where's the werewolf and the worm? Are you sure you can handle me without all of them, Potter?"

"Don't worry, Snape, Remus and Peter send their regards and they're sorry not to be here. But, hey, I'm not complaining; it means more for us." Black took out his wand and started twirling it around in his hand. I was no longer safe. Potter may bow to the law, but Black was another story entirely. If he had just one chance to curse me, he would; job, law and God be damned. I knew him and I, also knew that a fight was out of question. The Dark Lord would flay me alive for drawing attention to myself. My last conversation with Lily Evans was over.

Recognizing defeat and a sudden urge to live, I turned on the spot and walked away with Black's derisive taunts ringing in my ears. "Yeah, that's right, Snivellus, run like a coward. Run back to whatever greasy hole you came from. Do us a favor and stay there."

I neither felt nor cared for the insults. But anger was enveloping me with every step I took. Anger at my helplessness. Anger at Potter. Anger at her.

So in a couple of months Lily would give birth to a monster. A demon that would mirror James Potter in every way. Looks, Arrogance, Cruelty...Talent. Unconsciously I started wondering what Lily would name her child, whether any of her fiery personality would pass through. Will the child inherit her spicy sense of humor, her unwavering sense of justice?

As I Dissaparated empty handed, I wondered if the child was a boy or a girl.