Why We Fight

Severus Snape bolted into a sitting position as he awakened. As his onyx eyes opened, his mind was flooded with memories. It seemed that during his sleep an entire day had passed in his memories. He had been certain that Granger and Draco had disappeared about ten minutes until the bell and it was impossible for him to have so many new memories in about eight hours' time. But they were there, mocking him.

Hermione Granger was a Slytherin. Draco Malfoy was a Gryffindor. Severus Snape had befriended the new Slytherin over Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He had told her about his family and...egads, his infatuation with Draco's future mother. He had invited Hermione Granger to the Halloween Masque, for Salazar's sake!

Snape was seized by panic; he had invited a student to the Halloween Masque. He closed his eyes and pounded the back of his head on his pillow. In twenty-four hours, Hermione Granger had done the impossible and made him open up to her. She had befriended him, he'd just met the girl but he trusted her for some insane reason. All of his life, Snape had never trusted anyone, especially not his family. Then some bushy-haired know-it-all came along and his carefully-constructed walls had crumbled. It was just...he didn't know how to explain it.

He wanted to go back to sleep and pretend that his new memories were just a cruel prank by Gryffindor's Golden Trio. He worked over the memories much like he had the night before, realizing with a soft chuckle that Draco Malfoy had kissed Hermione Granger. He wasn't sure why but a load of Slytherin first years had been talking about seeing the girl in the arms of her Gryffindor suitor. This entire situation was insane on a level that Snape had never thought existed.

Snape had the sudden need to drown himself in a Hagrid-sized vat of firewhisky. Literally or figuratively, it didn't matter to him. He shuddered, hoping that a fix could be found for this mess or he'd soon have memories of dancing with Hermione and Merlin knows what else would happen in the next two months. Bloody hell, this is a total nightmare. In the next two months in 1977? Am I the only one getting a headache from all this? he wondered.

He looked at the clock in the corner of his room and realized that he couldn't procrastinate much longer; he'd slept later than usual. No one would ever think that Severus Snape was a morning person that usually woke up around five in the morning and was usually among one of the first staff members in the Great Hall. It was after eight in the morning and there was about a half hour left until breakfast was over. Just over an hour until Snape would have his first class of the day: first year Hufflepuffs.

His usual sadistic glee in taking points from Hufflepuffs (whom he despised almost as much as the Gryffindors) was dampened greatly by the traumatic memories he'd received in the night. All need for vindication was gone now and he realized that he'd need to muster every bit of mental strength to pass through the rest of the day, battling new old memories.

He stumbled out of bed and threw on his usual black, billowy robe and left his quarters, his mind trying to block out the memories that were sure to assail him soon enough. He entered the Great Hall and there was a sudden silence from the students, followed by excited whispers.

Snape cast a glare at the Gryffindor table. A first year yelped with terror and promptly ducked under the table to the amusement of his fellows. Snape took the only empty seat at the Head Table, beside Lupin. Lupin looked worse for the wear as well, he had barely touched his food and he looked exhausted.

Snape knew that Lupin's appearance had nothing to do with his lycanthropy. The last full moon had been almost a week beforehand. Snape knew why Lupin seemed tired because Snape had experienced the same tiring memories. "Have a good night's sleep?" the Potions professor asked in a cajoling voice.

"What do you think, Severus?" Severus was spoken like a vile curse word. "I had the worst nightmare-slash-memory, I had befriended a snarky blonde Slytherin. You know, the same one who did his damnedest to get me fired during his third year," Lupin stated with a glare at Snape.

Snape chuckled and took a sip of his pumpkin juice. Lupin smiled indulgently, making sure the Slytherin Head of House had a good amount of the orange liquid in his mouth before Lupin continued. "Although, I don't suppose it's any worse than a Slytherin inviting a Gryffindor Muggle-born to the Halloween Masque," Lupin replied.

Snape blanched and choked on the hearty sip of juice he'd taken. "H--how did you know?" Snape sputtered.

"You were sitting near Carpathia White, everyone in the entire school knew," Lupin stated.

Snape groaned. "Even Draco?" he asked.

"No...Draco didn't find out, I don't think. He had other things to think about than the Halloween Masque," Lupin said, his blue eyes shining with mischief.

Snape snorted. "I heard. He gave the first years quite a show, didn't he?" Snape laughed at the absurdity of it all.

At the Gryffindor table, Harry Potter and the two Weasleys were oddly silent. Ron and Harry picked at their food and Ginny stared at the Head Table. The Gryffindor table had been full of "answers" to what had happened to Hermione and Malfoy the day before. Lavender and Parvati were talking about what they knew as the truth. That the Gryffindor and Slytherin had accidentally created a love potion and left for some alone-time.

Compared with the other tales sweeping the Great Hall, theirs seemed to be the most believable...which was really something. Ginny's eyes widened as she stared at Lupin and Snape. "Wow," she murmured.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Look at Professor Lupin and Snape," she said. Harry's jaw dropped, his father's former friend had just made Snape laugh. Things were getting very odd around here.

"This is..." Ron couldn't find the words to explain what it was like to see a former-Gryffindor and a former-Slytherin enjoying themselves over civil conversation.