The End of the Innocence

Chapter Two: Green and Red Quidditch

Dumbledore sat quietly in his office. He was waiting for something. Or someone. His reason wasn't clear to any observer, if he had any, and the only person who knew what he was expecting was himself. Then his door opened without so much as startling him. A red-haired girl walked in; it was one of the third years. Her body stood strong across the office from Dumbledore, staring at him with unwavering green eyes.

Dumbledore pleasantly smiled. "Welcome Lily. Please sit. I'm sure it would make our conversation less awkward." Lily sat, albeit a little stiffly, without taking her eyes off of the headmaster. "Now, I certainly don't think you're in trouble from any teacher," he chuckled softly, "so why don't you open up the topic."
A breath wheezed out from her lips. Her hands were wringing even though she consciously didn't know she was doing it. Lily took her eyes to the floor for one brief moment before returning their gaze to the great wizard behind the desk. After a moment, through which Dumbledore patiently waited, she finally declared, "I'm worried about Severus Snape."

~

The school was in high spirits on a particular crisp November morning. The anticipated Gryffindor vs. Slytherin quidditch match was later in the day and Severus felt like someone had dropped an anvil on his head while he was asleep. The result was a nauseating feeling creeping through his stomach as he threw on his clothing attire for the morning.

Breakfast was nothing more than normal to Severus...at first. He went down as soon as the doors opened to avoid James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. He noticed Lily settle down at the Gryffindor table with a book, bent over with concentration. He pretended that she wasn't there. His mind was set on other things at the moment.

She looked up and noticed him however. Her captivating green eyes startled Severus for a moment and he looked down at his plate on impulse. He could feel her scrutinizing him a little longer until she got up and stalked out of the Great Hall.

He had just finished his meal when he could hear Sirius yelling from the entrance hall. Severus hastily got up and left. Trying not to look obvious, he ducked into a hallway and sped towards the Slytherin tower to gather his things. Of all days, today was definitely not the day to run into the mighty Gryffin-four group.

~

The stands were packed with spectators from the whole school and beyond. And then the whole of the crowd was astonished to find James Potter no longer leading the Gryffindor team onto the field next to Adam Kimball, the keeper. Instead, a girl with short golden brown hair, Hayley, was in his place and James was in the back with Stephanie and Ashleigh, two of the Gryffindor chasers.

Severus, decked out in his seeker uniform, noticed the change right away too. Hayley was also a third year Gryffindor but from what Severus observed from the Gryffindor practices, she had enough skill and talent to take the Quidditch Cup from Slytherin last year. Matt, Gryffindor's team captain and James' good friend that year, disabled that chance. Now that Adam switched the positions, Severus was slightly worried about the outcome of the match.

Professor Avid, in his black and white robes, walked out to the big chest in the middle of the field. As soon as the two teams were gathered around him and set, he blew his whistle and released the four balls. Severus watched as his fellow team members shot out in different directions. Joel (Greene), Rhea (Johnson) and Henry (Foss) took the quaffle down the field immediately, closely pursued by James, Stephanie (Killen) and Ashleigh (Grosjean) from Gryffindor.

The clear voice of Mac Sample was heard above the frenzy noises of the crowd: "Johnson with the quaffle---pass to Greene---pass to Johnson---intercepted by Killen---pass to Potter---pass to Killen---pass to Grosjean---Grosjean shoots! Fritts dives---and blocks it." His narrations came out quick to keep up with the speed of the game.
Severus let out a breath as Melissa threw the quaffle back in to Joel. He saw Adam swing a bludger toward him and easily dodged it. Amazing though, how he didn't see the bright flash of red until it was too late. The crowd gasped as Severus and James pummeled down to the rising ground. James managed to get his bearings at the same time that Severus did and they both managed to stop their fall so they could wrestle in midair instead.

The groans and disapproval of the crowd turned into another uniform gasp of anticipation. Hayley was diving toward the ground faster than Severus and James had just fallen. Severus saw a flash of gold...but it wasn't in front of Hayley like everyone thought it was. With their prize zipping around above the center of the field, Severus noted that her diving was spectacular...but feinting was not effective when you can see the snitch elsewhere. Severus took off toward the center where the snitch frolicked as if it were mocking his delay.

"Killen plants another goal against the Slytherins! The score is 20-40---pass to Johnson---pass to Foss---" Severus heard the sound whooshing past his ears as if the world outside the quidditch field were in a different dimension. "It appears Snape is in pursuit of the snitch! Callis takes off after him!" Severus could see a blur of red in the distance in his peripheral vision. He felt something hard and foreign slam into his ribs and warm flash slam into his shoulder when he was knocked off course again.

"Potter," he growled under his breath when hard brown eyes stared back at him through black-rimmed glasses as he recovered. Without waiting for an apology or insult, he dove past him in the direction he saw the snitch flying towards last. He saw Hayley flying at his right so he steered towards her just as she shot downwards, pulling off another spectular dive. However, this time the snitch was directly in front of her. Severus went down after her.

He almost crashed into the ground after Hayley. The snitch took a sudden turn up and she followed it with unbelievably quick reflexes. Severus swerved to avoid a bludger, which smashed into the turf below him when it didn't make contact with its target, and launched himself up. He was gaining on both Hayley and the snitch. The combination of the speed of his broom and the gradual decrease of oxygen in the air was dizzying and exhilaration for Severus.

He slammed into Hayley and attempted to knock her away. Her broom being a match to his new Shootingstar refused to give way so he concentrated on grabbing the snitch instead. It led them back down to a lower altitude; the pressure changing so quickly that Severus found himself trying to pop his ears before they grew too painful.

"Another goal for Slytherin by Greene! Score is now 40-100!"

Severus reached out, his hand grasping for the golden prize flashing in front of him. The snitch was snatched out of the air...by Hayley. Severus found an empty gloved hand attached to his arm right before he realized a little too late that the ground had come to greet him. His broom slammed into him from underneath as the front of his body crashed into the grass. He rolled across the field for some feet, coming to a stop lying on his back.

"Hayley Callis catches the snitch! GRYFFINDOR WINS!!" Mac yelled into the speaker. "The ending score is 190-100!"

Grimacing at the immediate pang of failure and the oncoming torrent of pain resulting from his horrible landing, Severus just lay there staring up at the swirling grey clouds that matched his current mood at the moment. He was oblivious to the atmosphere of frenziness as three-fourths of the student body poured out onto the field in delight now that they had witnessed the downfall of Slytherin.

Six pairs of feet stood before him; the furious face of the Slytherin captain, Henry Foss, was a sudden contrast to the rainbow of shades of grey above. Severus sat up, catching himself with his left arm when his right recoiled before he could put any weight on it.

"I thought you said you could win," Henry muttered darkly.

Severus replied in a cool tone despite the withering glares he received from a good number of the Slytherin house. "I said I could win against Potter," was his response. "I never said anything about Callis."

"You're about to get kicked off---"

"So you're threatening me," Severus sneered, a feeling of arrogance suddenly capturing his spirit like the rapture of flying and competition did only moments before. "And who's going to replace me? Rhea?" He saw both Henry and Rhea redden in the face and they looked ready to kill.

To Henry, that didn't seem like such a terrible idea. He stooped and yanked the folds of the front of Severus's quidditch robes. "Maybe we'll get Potter to play in your place. He'd make a better addition to the team anyway."

"I don't think so," James interrupted from behind Severus. He approached the pair, dangerously stepping within the ring of Slytherins with Sirius, Remus and Peter behind him. "I am a chaser now, not a seeker. I play for only Gryffindor, never Slytherin. Severus is a talented Seeker, we were just better prepared this time." His eyes flashed as Henry dropped Severus and turned towards him.

"This is none of your business, Potter," Henry glowered, brandishing his wand from under his robes. "Get out of here before I zap your pesky eyes out through the backside of your head."

"Your head would be clear off your shoulders before you finished saying the spell." Remus also had his wand out and pointed at the Slytherin captain. Sirius had mirrored his movement and also had his wand pointed straight at Henry.

Henry firmly held his wand. He shot a menacing glare at Severus before pocketing it with a sharp flick of his wrist. "What is this, your Gryffindor family? Shove off until you find where your loyalties lie." Henry whirled and broke through the wall of Slytherins that had come to observe the dispute.

Severus felt himself being hoisted by the back of his robes as Remus yanked him up from behind. Muttering bitter words of disapproval, the mass of Slytherin fans dispersed towards the school as they left Severus, Remus and Peter standing by a bickering match between Sirius and James.

"I can't believe you stood up to Henry Foss for another Slytherin scumbag," Sirius was angrily scowling at James.

"He's a third year like us," James spoke with a dark tone. "It's my fault he lost."

"It's his own fault!"

"Stop arguing over something stupid like this," Severus growled and stalked off before any of the other boys could respond.

~

Winter break started at Hogwarts and the few students that signed up to lodge at Hogwarts stayed in the school while the rest cleared out for home. Severus wasn't on the list of kids staying at school for Christmas like James and his friends were. He wasn't going home either. He rode out with Lucius to the vast mansion the older Slytherin called home. However, Severus found the big place empty of any other people.

Severus became a little edgy when Lucius led him underground into what appeared to be a dungeon of some sort. The sudden pain in his arm took him to the ground. It felt like something had ripped his arm off and decided to stick a knife up where the missing part was.

"Doesn't have much endurance for pain, I see."

Severus noticed Lucius cringing in pain too, although he didn't seemed as affected by the pain as Severus was. He realized that the mark he bore on his arm was boldly glowing a midnight black.

"Please forgive him, Master," Lucius replied, "Endurance is something that requires experience."

Lord Voldemort gave a slight nod of the head and Severus felt the pain suddenly shut off like a faucet. "That is true, Lucius," he calmly spoke. "You are proof that experience will raise your endurance. In time, Severus will be able to handle this as well. Come Severus, we shall start your training."

Severus got up while rubbing his arm and followed the mysterious man. They stopped after a dizzying labyrinth of dark hallways in front of a huge wooden door, which opened with the touch of the hand. Beyond the heavy door was an empty and vast circular stone room.

"Go in," Lord Voldemort commanded. When Severus didn't move, he quietly grasped his wand and gave it a discreet flick. Severus went down just as fast as he did before. "The pain stops if you get in the room," Lord Voldemort softly spoke over Severus's groans of pain.

Not only did the pain rip through his arm, it enveloped his whole body. It took every bit of strength he had to slowly drag himself into the room so the pain would lift. Thankfully, the pain vanished as soon as his feet were inside, leaving him on the ground panting through a sheen of sweat.

"Severus?"

Lord Voldemort walked past the trembling boy towards the back wall of the icy room. "I don't recall ever giving you permission to speak," he spoke with a silkily smug tone. Then he turned back to Severus, smirking when the young preteen's horrified expression told him that he was seeing his own father chained to the wall behind him. "In order to successfully accomplish our goal here, you need to be able to manipulate your surroundings to ensure your achievement." He was steadily walking back to Severus, creating a basic yet punctuating rhythm. "This curse, Severus, is a valuable tool that will undoubtly prove to be useful in future."

Severus let out a startled gasp when Lord Voldemort whirled back to his father and declared, "Crucio!" in a determined, yet amused voice.

His father immediately let out an ungodly scream, and Severus, in turn, jumped up and tried to run to his father. Pain quickly enveloped him and he crumpled to the ground despite his efforts to stay on his feet.

Voldemort stood calmly next to him. "If you want the pain to go away, go back to where you were."

Severus shook with strain as he crawled back to where he was just standing, his father screaming the whole time. When Severus finally managed to sit up, he stared tearfully at the man chained to the wall. For the first time in his life (or that he could remember), he felt something other than annoyance or loathing. Sympathy, possibly...maybe even the realization of love? "Stop," Severus hoarsely cried out. "Stop it, please!"

Lord Voldemort unemotionally held his gaze for a moment. Without saying anything, his wand appeared and he gave a small wave in his father's direction. It took a while for Severus's father to stop screaming, and even then, his body was spasming several minutes after Voldemort called off the curse.

"Emotional control is something else you will have to learn, Severus," Lord Voldemort said after a moment of silence. "Emotions, whether it be love or anger, causes weakness. You can't have weaknesses in this world or you will surely perish from incompetence." He was stepping towards the door in the same steady beat as before.

"Where are you going?" Severus sniveled a little and stood up.

"To bed," Voldemort casually replied. His answer was interrupted by an agonizing moan emitting from the back wall. "Remember, Severus, if you move from that spot, be prepared to face the consequences." He paused in the doorway. "We'll continue your training tomorrow morning."

Lying curled up on the floor while listening to his father's anguished cries and moans was one of Severus's worst nights in his life.

~

"Lily! C'mon, this one's for you." James laughed merrily as he planted a colorful package in the arms of the green-eyed girl. He did a silly little dance around the livingroom to the amusement of Remus and Sirius. Lily paid no heed to him, continuing to stare out at the dancing snow flurries outside the window.

"Lily, it's Christmas. Presents! With your name on them."

For the first time in her life, she wanted to slap that stupid grin off of James's face. "James, please, it's 7:00 am on a cold December morning. Give me a break." This was not the reason why she was unusually irritable. In fact, she was quite cozy and wide-awake in the livingroom of the Potters, sitting with her best friends on Christmas morning. Their parents sat in the other room chatting merrily over hot cups of butterbeer.

This was a tradition for the four boys and their families for three years now; for Lily, it was two. Normally, Lily would be laughing and urging Sirius to try on a new sweater or something. But she felt...different. Like something was wrong.

"Lily..."

It was only Remus this time. James had given up and rushed off with Sirius and Peter to try out his new set of magical pens. Remus remained sitting on the floor in the midst of multicolored wrapping paper. His concerned eyes rested on Lily in front of him.

"Lily..." he tried again.

"Remus," Lily replied, ignoring his tone of concern, "have you ever had a bad feeling about something, yet you don't know exactly what was wrong about that something?" Her green eyes met his, brimming with the seriousness of her inquiry.

"No..." Remus slowly answered, "I'm afraid I don't know what exactly you're talking about."

Lily remained quiet for a moment as she listened to the adults in the other room. "Did Severus stay at Hogwarts for the break?" she finally asked.

Remus was taken aback. "I-uh don't recall seeing him on the list to stay," he sputtered in a delayed response. "Yeah, I think he went home. I saw him leave. Why, is something wrong?"

Lily ignored his question and asked one of her own. "Are his parents muggles?"

"How would I know?" Remus was giving her a funny look now. "Lily, what is going on?"

"Have you read the papers recently? A married couple, a witch and a wizard, disappeared a little over a week ago from a muggle community. No evidence of a struggle, both cars were home, nothing stolen, no dead bodies yet. Apparently their only son, eleven years old, is at boarding school but no one knows where---"

"Did they give names?"

"Neal and Linda Snape. Do you remember what Severus's last name is?"

Remus paused for a moment. "Snape," he answered, dread starting to creep into his voice.

"I need to go back to Hogwarts," Lily said.

James, Sirius and Peter all yelled in unison from the door. "What?!?"

~

Lucius strolled the halls of Hogwarts with a random feeling of satisfaction. Severus stayed back at the mansion an extra day to finish his winter training. He had become incredibly talented at dueling over the past couple of weeks. It impressed even Voldemort.

Ironically, Lucius was glad to be back at school. He bitterly chuckled to himself, knowing that the feeling would wear off as soon as classes started again in the morning. But there was something he had here that he didn't have at the mansion. Footsteps echoed from the intersecting hallway ahead.

~

Lily sighed. She returned to Hogwarts almost a week early to inquire about Severus only to find that he did, in fact, go home. Dumbledore refused to give her any contact information despite her pleading request. She was going to the library to check the papers.

Lily turned the corner and WHUMP! A mass of green robes slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. She cried out in surprise, her body jolting in pain as it made contact with the cold ground below her.

"I am quite lucky this time, aren't I?" Lucius commented smugly from atop her stomach. "And here I was, thinking it would be another idiotic first year. Lily Evans, I thought you went home this winter."

Lily stared up at him with disbelief. Has this guy gone mad? "Lucius," she acknowledged. "I'm quite busy. So if you don't mind, I'd like to---"

"Wait a minute," Lucius' silky voice protested. "The train doesn't arrive until this afternoon. The halls are empty. It's a once in a lifetime deal." The glint in his eye sickened her. The answer to her question: no, he's beyond mad.

"It's a never in a lifetime chance for you," Lily responded with gritted teeth. "Get off."

"What if I like where I'm sitting?"

"Get. Off."

"Lucius!" Severus cautiously called out as he towed his belongings behind him.

"Ah, Severus," Lucius purred without taking his eyes away from Lily. "Nice of you to join us."

"Severus, get this prat off of me."

"Lucius, please get off of her. That's a rather suggestive position."

"Severus, I thought you weren't supposed to be back until this evening."

"Voldemort said I---"

"Voldemort!"

Severus winced when he realized what he had just said. He glanced down and saw Lily's eyes flashing with rage. Lucius smirked with satisfaction.

"The Voldemort? The guy who's killing wizards and muggles all over the world??"

"Er...I guess that's one thing about him..." Severus nervously.

"What were you doing with him??"

"I---"

"Stupefy!"

Severus whirled around when a burst of light sped past him from behind and knocked Lucius against the wall. James stood firmly about twenty paces away. "Back off, Severus."

"James, I wasn't---"

"Expelliarmus!" Lucius cried, aiming a ball of energy at the Gryffindor and sending him flying backward, his wand escaping his fingers and clattering to Severus's feet.

Severus stooped to pick it up.

James climbed to his feet as if nothing had happened and glared at Severus. "Give it back."

Severus's hand started moving towards James.

"Don't you dare, Severus," Lucius warned.

"Accio!"

The wand flew out of Severus's hand and was caught by Lily.

"You incompetent fool!" Lucius growled as he lifted his own wand again. "Ac--"

"Expelliarmus!" Lily yelled and aimed her wand at him.

Lucius was thrown back once again, his wand flying through the air.

Lily ignored his wand near her feet as she marched past Severus to James' side and returned his wand to him. "Let's go, James. I can't stand the sight of either of these two any longer."

Severus sat quietly, watching after the two Gryffindors as they walked towards the Gryffindor tower. Without a word, he got up and started collecting his personal belongings from off the ground.

"I thought you're winter training would've made you improve," Lucius frowned, his toe sending an echoing beat down the corridors. "We should've won that duel."

Severus glared at him. "You did that on purpose," he whispered solemnly. "Lily hates me now..."

Lucius seemed very unmoved. "Love makes you weak," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Let this be a lesson to you."

Severus shot a last glare at him and continued alone down the corridor with his luggage.

~

Professor Dumbledore sat in his office. His hands held a report written on muggle paper. He gave the illusion that he was reading it when he was actually just staring at it, so he could think uninterrupted. One the younger teachers, Professor McGonagall, sat nervously in one of the comfortable chairs in front of his desk. Her mind seemed distant, as if she was unaware that she was still sitting in Hogwarts at all.

Both instructors looked up when they heard the office door creak open. Severus popped his head of raven black hair in. "You called, Professor?" he asked, stepping into the office.

"Severus," Dumbledore acknowledged him. "Please sit down. I have a few rather serious topics to discuss with you." He placidly watched as the third year Slytherin lower himself in the chair next to McGonagall. "Now Severus..." he began.

"Why is Professor McGonagall here?" he interrupted.

McGonagall was a sharp and rather attractive young woman. She shot him a look of disbelief and opened her mouth to protest. Dumbledore stopped her with a look.

"Severus, Minerva is here to assist me. I have some...grievous news to tell you. I believe your life won't be the same for quite some time." He paused, never breaking eye contact with his youngest third year. "Severus, it was confirmed last night. Both of your parents are not alive after going missing for three weeks now. Their bodies were found in a patch of woods behind your house. You need to decide what you're going to do for the summer."

Severus didn't seem to look a bit surprised. He sat quietly for moment. "I can't stay here?"

McGonagall was wringing her hands in her lap. "We can't allow students to stay over the summer. It's against the rules," she said slowly. "We have no relative contacts of yours. We were hoping you could give us some."

Severus didn't even look at her. "None."

"Then what do you want to do this summer, Severus?" Dumbledore asked gently.

Severus opened his mouth to respond and then hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be fighting a battle within himself that lasted for several moments. Dumbledore waited patiently; McGonagall too, albeit with not as much patience. One side finally seemed to win. "I request permission to stay at the Malfoy Manor for my vacations," he declared finally.

McGonagall, if at all possible, suddenly sat up straighter than she was, but she didn't say anything.

Dumbledore remained calm and callous. "Are you sure, Severus?"

"Yes, sir."

Dumbledore sighed, suddenly looking ten years older. "All right, Severus. I'll make arrangements with the Malfoy family..." ---What family? Severus dully thought--- "and you shall stay there at least during the summer break." Another pause. "Are you feeling okay, Severus?"

"Just peachy, Professor Dumbledore," Severus sarcastically replied.

"Be serious!" McGonagall snapped.

"Minerva..." Dumbledore gently warned.

Professor McGonagall harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest, but said no more.

"You may go, Severus," Dumbledore continued.

Severus warily held the headmaster's a moment longer before standing up and leaving the two silent adults behind.

~

The corridors were empty as Severus walked through them from the headmaster's office. He was contemplating about his destination between the library and the Slytherin dorms. He paused by a window that overlooked the empty quidditch field and decided to calm his mind in the air.

By the time he got down to the field, grabbed his Shootingstar, and took off, the Gryffindor team was marching down to the field in their practice quidditch uniforms. Severus rolled his eyes in annoyance and took off for the far end of the field.

Shortly after their trek from the castle, and a discussion of tactics to be practiced from Adam, the air was filled with seven Gryffindors, decked in red, drilling through several quidditch maneuvers over and over again. Severus paused to watch as one of the female chasers, Stephanie as he remembered from the match back in November, released the snitch while Hayley would go catch it. Then he noticed Adam pointing at him and their other beater, William, flew up to where Severus hovered.

"Adam asked me to kick you off the field," William informed him. "You seem mighty suspicious and he doesn't want to risk you stealing tactics or something."

"I'm not," Severus truthfully answered.

"GET OFF THE FIELD!!!" It was Sirius yelling from the stands beneath them. Severus narrowed his eyes. Remus appeared to be trying to grab Sirius's wand that was producing the sonorus spell, magnifying the bold Gryffindor's voice. "YOU'RE NOT WANTED!"

"Severus, go." Another voice. The remaining two chasers had stopped their practice at the disruption and James and Ashleigh were floating about ten feet below William and Severus. Ashleigh's attention was at the two boys in the stands while James stared intently at the lone Slytherin.

"CAN'T YOU HEAR? YOU FILTHY, NO GOOD---" Remus finally managed to knock Sirius' wand out of his hand. However, Sirius was the first to reach it and recasted the sonorus spell in no time. "GET OUT OF THE BLOODY FIELD ALREADY!"

"This isn't worth my time," Severus muttered, after glancing at the rest of the Gryffindor team. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at Sirius, who was opening his mouth again. "Finite incantatem," he murmured.

The rest of the Gryffindors didn't know what he was actually doing. Remus cried out at the sight of Severus' wand and dove to knock Sirius over out of the way. Sirius yelled out half of a word, unheard by any in the air since Severus cancelled his spell, before Remus slammed into him. James cried out in shock and yanked out his own wand, momentarily unsure of what he was reacting to.

Adam, Hayley, Stephanie and the Gryffindor keeper were all up in the air investigating the reason why their practice came to a sudden halt. "William!" Adam called to his beater. "I thought I told you to get him off."

William looked apologetic but said nothing.

"Put the wand away," James calmly commanded.

Severus glared at him. "You know, you think you can just boss me around like a little kid," he started.

"That's not what---"

"You're wrong."

"Just get out of here, you bloody Slytherin," Adam barked.

Severus didn't hesitate and immediately turned around. Sirius was cheering very loudly from the spectator stands while Remus was unsuccessfully begging him to stop.

So much for calming his mind.

~

"Knight to E5."

"Bishop to G4."

"Knight to G4."

"..."

"Um...Lily?"

Lily blinked at her fallen bishop being hauled off the board in response. "Dang, I didn't see that!"

Debby sat back with a sigh as the portrait hole opened. "Hello everyone," she greeted.

"Debby! Lily!" Sirius exclaimed amidst a group of Gryffindors dressed in crimson robes. "You wouldn't believe what happened. Remember that Slytherin jerk Severus? He was giving the team a hard time in practice today. Remember, James?"

James, the last one through the portrait hole, said nothing and walked up into the dorm rooms.

"Knight to G4," Lily unhappily sighed. "What's wrong with James?" she asked out of mild curiosity, all while in hope to get off the topic of Severus.

"I have know idea," Sirius helplessly shrugged his shoulders.

"Pawn to B5."

"Maybe if someone didn't act so stupid," Remus huffed.

"Who, Severus?"

"Knight to C5."

"You're so conceited, Sirius. No wonder James is mad at you."

Sirius looked affronted. "James is not mad at me. Remus! How could you say that!"

"Pawn to H3," Debby said absently. "You know, I don't see what you all have against Severus. I don't see him trying to pull anything on you. You're just assuming that because of his house..."

"I'm not assuming, I know," Sirius heatedly shot back.

"Knight to E5." Lily tossed her hair behind her. "Maybe Remus is right," she yawned. "You are conceited."

"I am not!" Sirius fumed.

"Knight to C3."

The quidditch team was coming back downstairs after changing into casual clothes. Hayley, dressed in jeans and a windbreaker, commented, "you know, he looked like he was trying to keep to himself today. I don't know why Adam made such a big deal out of it."

"He's part of the Slytherin!" Tim exclaimed, coming out from the boys' dormitories. "You don't just let someone from the other team observe your practices. It gives them the advantage."

"Pawn to E6," said Lily. "But you already played against Slytherin this year."

"But what about next year?" Tim countered, "and the year after that? Hayley and Severus are both third years."

"Oh, I don't think he was doing any harm," Hayley muttered, plonking down next to Stephanie in front of the fireplace. "At least not enough to get this much of a reaction out of us."

"Bishop to F4."

"But he's a Slytherin scumbag!" Sirius howled.

"Knight to C4."

"Shut up, Sirius."

The chess game and the conversation froze as everyone looked up. James stood at the base of the stairs, staring at the group of Gryffindors.

"What was that, James?" Sirius asked slowly, with a shocked expression.

"Severus Snape," James announced with a grim look, "Slytherin? Yes. Scumbag? I think it takes one to recognize one."

Sirius' face flushed red. "You bloody---"

"Sirius!" Remus yelled when Sirius charged at James.

The two boys fell to the ground, yelling and punching at each other. The commonroom was pandemonious as Remus, Tim and Hayley all jumped into the skirmish to separate them. In the end, Hayley was holding up James, whose glasses were broken on top of sporting a bloody nose. Tim and Remus were both struggling to hold Sirius back, who suffered with a cut lip.

"Pawn to E3." Debby decided to continue their game as if the emotions of everyone in the room weren't rocketing out of the roof.

"Queen to A5." Lily fixed Sirius with a glare. "Puh-lease, could you be any more immature?"

Sirius wasn't paying attention however. "Get your bloody hands off of me!" he snarled at Remus and Tim. "I'm going to kill him! Geroff!"

"Bishop to C4."

"Sirius, would you calm down?" Stephanie pleaded from Tim's side.

"Calm is the last thing---OFF!" With a roar of finality, Sirius managed to shove Remus, Tim and Stephanie away from him so he could get to his feet. Then he appeared to have a staring contest with James...which, to Remus, Tim, and Stephanie, was a momentary relief.

The portrait hole opened once again.

"Knight to A4. How was detention, Peter?" Lily asked conversationally in the middle of their awkward silence.

"Bishop to D5."

Peter looked extremely exhausted. "You know McGonagall," he pitifully sighed, "she had me scrub all the desks in the Transfiguration room again---including your 'Slytherin stinks!' logo, Sirius." Sirius snickered but his eyes held his death glare on James.

"Knight to C3. Well, that doesn't sound like the worst she could possibly do," Lily commented thoughtfully. "Why did you get detention in the first place?"

"I er..." Peter blushed. "I accidentally gave Phillip Seedar a tail.

"Bishop to C6. Check."

Lily cursed to herself. "King to E7."

"A bushy squirrel tail!" Hayley exclaimed as she recalled that particular transfiguration hour.

Peter avoided looking at his classmate as he remained quiet with embarrassment.

"Are you doing okay?" James asked with a concerned expression, icily breaking off Sirius' gaze, much to Sirius' dismay. "I haven't seen you much outside of class periods. You look awfully tired."

"Er...I guess the desks took a lot more energy out of me than usual," Peter replied in a shrilly voice.

James gave him a weird look but said nothing more.

"Bishop to G5. Check. "

"Pawn to F6. Maybe you should go to bed early tonight." Lily kindly suggested.

"Yeah, you look like you've just been hit with a Crucio curse," Tim joked.

An expression of shock twisted Peter's features for a brief second, but it disappeared before anyone took note of it. His face flushed. He mumbled something about getting extra sleep and hurried upstairs.

"Queen to D7. Checkmate."

~

Severus' mother had hair that seemed impossibly black, slightly curly, and cascaded down her back. It was one of the many things Severus admired about his mother. That, and her quietly determined spirit. But her hair. Severus' longish locks licked the sides of his face with a softness that most guys don't possess. He felt lucky that he managed to inherit this trait of his mother's, although he failed to obtain her pale blue eyes. He had his father's soft brown eyes instead.

But Severus was paying no attention to his eyes as he stared idly in the bathroom mirror that morning, brushing out his shoulder length hair. In fact, his mind didn't seem in the bathroom at all. Not in the school either...

Screams that seemed to rip every molecule in the air apart echoed around the vast stone room. His mother was chained to the wall in front of him. Her hair was draped limply around her shoulders as another wave of pain passed over her. "Severus," she helplessly panted, "make it stop...dear, dear Severus. Please..."

Severus didn't stop however. His eyes were brimming with tears, yet he said nothing to solace her. He knew how she felt; how the pain seemed to fill your whole being including every single atom within, how hopeless you felt when you couldn't escape the pain or control your screams, how time seemed to freeze and possibly stop while under the curse. It was all he could do to keep himself from healing her.

Severus slowly held his wand up, taking in his mother one last time. He whispered, the words barely audible, "Avada Kedavra."

"Severus...um...Severus?" Joel, a fourth year on the quidditch team, was standing hesitantly in the door to the bathroom. "Severus, we have practice."

Severus groaned and got up.

~

"You weren't spying on us at that practice, were you?"

Severus looked over his shoulder as he took down his broom from its rack. Hayley was standing in the entrance of the broom shed, staring at him. Severus noted that her grey eyes reminded him of Lucius. She was still staring at him, apparently waiting for an answer to her question. Albeit, the way she said it made it sound more like an accusation than a statement. "No," he answered placidly as he walked towards her on his way out.

Hayley didn't move as Severus reached the door. "Why did you end up in Slytherin?" she suddenly asked. "Why not Ravenclaw? You're one of the smartest people in the school."

Severus winced. "You of all people should know how horrible their quidditch team is," he remarked. Of course, Severus didn't tell her that he had no idea what quidditch was at the time of his sorting. "Doesn't it look bad for you if you're caught talking to a Slytherin? Especially their seeker?"

Hayley smiled. "I think it would look worse for you if they caught you talking to a Gryffindor," she shot back. 'I was wondering if maybe you were up for a schoolwide seeker vs. seeker practice since we don't have to play against each other until next year."

Severus shrugged. He thought about how the rest of the team would think at such a prospect and decided he didn't care. "Right now?"

Hayley answered by walking in and grabbing her broom. "Why not?" She pulled a small gold snitch from her pocket. "International level zip snitch," she told him as she tapped it with her wand to ignite it. "Won it at a Seeker competition in Mexico." By now, the wings were fluttering so fast that Severus was surprised that Hayley's wrists weren't getting cut up by them. "Ready?"

Severus nodded. "Go."

At his cue, Hayley released the snitch. Severus stepped out of the broom shed and watched it fly towards the castle. "Is that a good idea?" he asked her.

"It'll stay within the ground boundaries," she said with a shrug. She took off after it.

Severus didn't hesitate and took off after her. Hayley was already halfway to the castle with Severus tailing about twenty feet behind her and the snitch fifty feet in front. She swerved to the right to match the movements of the small glitter of gold in front of them. Severus shot straight forward towards the castle and pulled up to clear the top of the building. Hayley was pursuing the snitch around the Gryffindor tower and into the south courtyard. Severus shot down and caught up to her in the courtyard as they chased the snitch above the heads of students wandering the tunnel. The golden prize shot up into the sky as soon as it reached the north courtyard at the other end of tunnel.

Hayley and Severus both shot up after it, barely avoiding a collision with the huge tree in the middle of the courtyard. The snitch jerked right, and Hayley and Severus swerved in a close right around the Divination tower before shooting off towards the lake. The snitch was only about thirty feet ahead of them now. Hayley pulled forward slightly and glided to the left in attempted to cut the snitch off. The snitch darted to the left as Hayley predicted but then jerked again and started flying straight at her. She got ready to catch it but then it shot straight down towards the water. Severus dove down beneath her and raced after it. The snitch bested him as well, and the result was a huge splash as Severus and his broom submerged into the cold lake. Hayley looked worriedly at the surface as she turned her broom around. Then Severus shot out of the water, still on his broom. He was predictably soaked but he still sped off towards the castle where the snitch was headed. Hayley was following close to him, taking care to get out of the way of the water dripping from his practice clothes.

Severus felt numb as the cold was starting to get to him. He clutched his broom without actually feeling it beneath him and steered up over the Astronomy tower. The snitch took a sharp left around the top and Severus matched its movements. Hayley shot up from their left and was flying about ten feet beneath the snitch. The snitch flew up higher though, and Severus felt himself gaining on the golden bird as he climbed altitude with it. Hayley shot up and reached him just as he managed to snatch the difficult prize from the air with a pale and wind-soaked hand. Severus was amazed when he saw, rather than felt the snitch struggling to free itself from his grasp. He then realized that the broom was no longer beneath him.

Hayley cried out in surprise when she realized that Severus had slipped from his broom. She dropped, the abrupt change in altitude harassing her ears, in pursuit of the Slytherin Seeker. She managed to grab him, soaking herself because he wasn't completely dry yet. And she lowered him to the roof of the Great Hall.

"I think I caught it," Severus said with a wry smile, "but I'm not sure since I can't feel anything."

"You're an idiot, diving into that lake," Hayley playfully scolded. She performed a drying spell for the both of them and cast a warming charm as well. Severus summoned his broom to him and they both sat overlooking the quidditch field. The Slytherin practice was already over.

"That was fun though," Severus nonchalantly commented as he scrutinized the snitch in his hand. "Thank you," he said, handing it back to Hayley. "We should do this again."

"Next week?"

"Saturday, after you beat Hufflepuff."

"You're on."

Severus smiled to himself. "So, why don't you hate me?" he asked, half joking and half serious.

"I don't hate you," Hayley automatically replied.

Severus bitterly chuckled to himself. "Then why does Lily? And James, Remus, Peter and Sirius? Not that I care about Sirius," he tacked on under his breath.

Hayley gave him a funny look. "Lily doesn't hate you," she replied frowning. "Neither does James, Remus, or Peter. All right, so maybe Sirius hates you but you just said you didn't care."

Severus rolled his eyes.

"Don't let Sirius get to you. He's an annoying little bug that needs to grow up."

Severus smirked. "So I'm not the only person who thinks that?"

Hayley laughed in response.

~

James kicked a couple of pebbles as he trekked the path to the Gryffindor locker rooms. There was always drama at Hogwarts. But James usually wasn't included in an episode since he avoided those types of things. Suddenly, the news that he and Sirius weren't hanging around like best buds anymore was the flashing tabloid of the month. Which meant he was asked many unwanted questions about it.

The dirt scraped as James kicked another random pebble. But that wasn't what he was pondering over at the moment. Although Peter wasn't as close to him as Sirius and Remus was, he still had James worried. Peter may not be the most interactive person in the world, but he seems to avoid everyone all the time now. Especially after being asked about McGonagall's detention last week. It's as if he's trying to hide something. But what?

James paused when he heard a burst of laughter ahead of him. Standing at the door to the girls' locker room was Hayley, Stephanie and Tim talking away before they had to part to their respective changing rooms. James cocked his head as he kept walking. The way he looks at Hayley these days...

Hayley, unaware that James was pondering something that included her, waved at her fellow third-year with a bright smile on her face. "Hi James!"

"Hey guys," James regarded them with a pleasant look. Maybe Peter likes her. It's not like Hayley's unattractive or anything. Her grey eyes remind me of Malfoy though...He continued analyzing her as Tim continued to tell them about how Melissa Fritts from Slytherin dozed off during potions and how the professor reacted when she fell out of her seat.

"---And she stands up, pretending that she had been awake the whole time. I mean, she was standing there telling Professor Figg and the rest of the class that she simply dropped her quill while her bright pink feather was sitting calmly on her desk the whole time. She could at least find a better lie. If I had been in the same position, I would have said, 'man, the vampires at the blood bank told me this might happen!'"

James chuckled when Hayley and Stephanie did. "Let's go, Tim. We need to get dressed." He was accompanied by the fifth year to the other locker room. And he was still lost in thought as Tim spoke about something else. The more he thought about it, the most he convinced himself that Peter might have an innocent crush on Hayley and was withdrawing because of it. "That's probably it," he concluded aloud.

"What's probably what?" Tim asked confusedly.

James smiled. "Man, the vampires at the blood bank told me this might happen," he replied passively.

Tim laughed. "Good one, James. But I hope you're not serious. We have Hufflepuff to beat."

~~

James wasn't the only one thinking about Peter's weird behavior. Remus found himself wondering why he was sitting at the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor quidditch match when he knew how the outcome of the game would be. Not that Hufflepuff's team was the worst at the school (Ravenclaw somehow claimed that title recently) but their only chance at winning the House Cup graduated last year. So Remus could be found idly flipping through the pages of a book on magical creatures, accompanied Lily and Sirius.

The absence of Peter was normal. Even though Remus insisted that Peter should come to the games to support James and let loose a little, Peter would shrink back and tell him that he had to practice a transfiguration technique or redo a potion for Figg's class. Remus couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him because he tried so hard to get off from the bottom of the class. He even offered to help him with his transfiguration today, but Peter told him that he should probably tend to Sirius. Remus, suddenly realizing that Sirius was working on broom locking charms on the day of a quidditch match, grabbed Sirius and confiscated his wand.

Peter was actually a brighter person than he came across as. He was specifically talented in Charms and hexes, almost a match for Severus Snape and Lily Evans, the king and queen of dueling. If he had more confidence in his ability, he probably wouldn't be considered such an idiot.

"Get it Hayley!" Sirius was yelling. Everyone but Remus was on their feet as Hayley performed a spectacular dive to catch the snitch. Hufflepuff lost by a staggering amount of points and the Gryffindors were busy cheering for their win.

Remus looked up. "Watch out!" he cried even though no one heard him. Hayley was then knocked off her broom by a stray bludger. The last Gryffindor in his seat got to his feet and helplessly watched as the Gryffindor Seeker felt towards the ground. The Hufflepuff team and the rest of the Gryffindor team realized a little too late that Hayley collided with the ground.

Cheers of delight rapidly turned to yells of horror and murmurs of concern. There was a small collected gasp as suddenly, Severus popped up out of nowhere on the quidditch pitch and knelt down beside the fallen seeker. Chaos let loose again.

"He just apparated!" Lily was gawking beside him. "Not even the teachers can apparate on school grounds."

"What does he bloody think he's doing!?!" Sirius yelled. "Stupid Slytherin!"

Remus looked worried as well. If Severus somehow got past the school's protect wards, it meant that he could be arrested for breaking the law. "Maybe he figured out an invisibility spell," he skeptically suggested, all the while still believing that Severus managed to apparate.

"Get off the field!" Sirius was still howling.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Silencio," she murmured and with a flick of her wand, no words were audible from Sirius's mouth. He glared at her.

By then, the rest of the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teams had rained down around Hayley and Severus. From Remus's view, a little shouting match occurred before several professors appeared and restrained the parties. The last thing that Remus saw before leaving with Sirius and Lily was Professor Figg dragging Severus towards the castle. The look on Professor Figg's face told him that she wasn't the least bit happy.

~TBC~

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