The Bonds of Friendship

Yule Ball

~5~

Severus grinned. You're so fucking predictable! Every time Lucius had that glossy eyed vacant gaze spread across his face, Severus knew he was completely wrapped up in his own thoughts, oblivious to everything around him. Time to have some fun...

"Never mind," he growled, turning away from the blonde, "I'm not about to repeat myself for a spoiled wanker like yourself."

"What did you call me?" He could hear Lucius' face turning scarlet with anger.

A grin of satisfaction on his face as he continued to look away from the other boy, Severus answered, "I see your hearing still hasn't improved." Painting the coldest glare possible on his face, he turned to Lucius. "I'm sorry, let me try again....YOU... SPOILED... WANKER!"

Inwardly, the dark haired boy laughed, pleased with himself. He had, in fact, said nothing at all while the blonde dazed off into space; though that wasn't about to stop Severus from tormenting him.

Lucius jumped to his feet, his wand out and aimed at his best friend. "You will EAT those words, my friend!"

Severus laughed at the blonde's threat as he slowly drew his wand out of his robes. "Really, Luc? Think you can make me?" he taunted; raising his wand to run his fingers up and down the smooth polished wood.

"Diffindo!"

Severus casually stepped aside, letting Lucius' spell rip his bed linens to shreds. "Tsk, tsk...honestly, your aim could use some improving." He watched as the blonde boy's face reddened with anger. So predictable...

Furious, Lucius sent a chair flying at him. Severus quickly used a banishing charm to knock it back. Slamming it into Lucius' bed, it cracked one of the bedposts, causing the canopy to almost fall on top of the blonde boy standing beside it.

They continued their little argument for several minutes, leaving the dormitory in a shambles. As Severus shielded himself from another curse, the door opened, causing Lucius to turn his head just before the spell came back on him, causing his hair to turn as red as his face.

****

Lucius was livid. His hair was now as red as the Cardinal's and Avery was standing in the doorway, overlooking the disaster that had at one point, been their dormitory. "Avery" he shouted, his wand still aimed at Severus, "get out before I curse you into tomorrow!"

Avery, however, did not move, instead, he crossed his arms and leaned on the doorframe. "Practicing, I see... tell me, which of you imbeciles is losing?"

Lucius turned to his dark haired friend and raised an eyebrow. Severus did the same. As if they had read each other's mind, they both turned their wands on Avery, shouting, "Stupefy!"

Avery fell back onto the floor with a satisfying thud. Lucius grinned at his dark companion. "At least we still have it," he said matter of factly. Walking over to the stunned Slytherin, the blonde leaned over and sneered. "I believe it is you who has lost, dear Avery." Severus walked up beside him, his arms crossed in his usual pose, as Lucius added, "For future reference, don't interrupt me and Severus when we're... discussing things, we don't like to be intruded upon... we tend to get a little, violent."

With that, the two boys stepped over the form of Avery, Severus 'accidentally' kicking him on his way, as they walked towards the common room. "How about something to drink?" Lucius asked his friend; pleased to see he had indeed not been weakened by the Cardinal. Then again, only time would truly tell if she would.

****

Lily had been looking over her book, and staring at her for some time now and it was beginning to unnerve Aleanor. Finally, she closed her own book and asked, "Okay, Lil, what is it?"

"What?" her emerald-eyed friend asked, innocently.

"You've been looking at me for the past hour. Have I grown a wart or something?"

"No." Lily answered, still reading her book.

Aleanor walked over and sat next to her friend. "Lily, what is it?"

Finally, the other red head closed her book. "Let's go up to the dorm."

"Okay," Aleanor huffed, grabbing the rest of her things as she followed Lily upstairs. Reaching the dormitory, she dropped her things on the floor by her bed. "So, what is it, Lil, I'm going nuts here."

Lily sat on the edge of Aleanor's bed. "I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but... well, I wasn't sure how you'd take it."

Aleanor placed her hand on Lily's. "You're like a sister to me, Lily. I listen to you more than I listen to my own mother! You can tell me or ask me anything, okay?"

Lily nodded and looked at the floor for a moment. Looking back at Aleanor she asked, "What do you see in Snape?"

At first, she wanted to laugh. Why did it take Lily so long to ask me that? Then she realized her friend was probably afraid of hurting her feelings. "You really want to know?"

"Yeah!" she said, in a surprised tone.

Rolling her eyes, Aleanor took a deep breath. "Alright. Look, I know Severus isn't exactly pin-up material like Potter," Lily blushed as she continued, "but he's... I don't know... interesting. He reads like it's going out of style, and talks like he's twenty-something," she giggled, that part was kinda humorous, "and yes, his hair needs a make-over, but he's so... warm."

Lily had put her hand over her mouth by this point, and was fighting back a fit of laughter.

"I'm serious! You've never taken the time to look in his eyes and see what he feels. I know he's had it rough, or else he wouldn't be the stone wall he is to everyone else! No one else even gives him a chance! They just blow him off or pull pranks on him like the Marauders!"

Aleanor looked at her hands as she began spinning the ring on her finger. She needed to calm down; she didn't mean to get worked up like that. Finally, she added, "I don't even know how I managed to get past that damn wall of his."

Lily put a hand on her shoulder. "He's different with you, isn't he?"

She smiled and looked up at her friend. "Exactly! He's never tried to impress me...which Potter does every available moment for you... He's like a whole other person when it's just us. He'll smile, he touches my arm," she closed her eyes, remembering detention, "he's playful," she giggled, "and he's the first guy I've felt comfortable enough around to be myself and not the 'little miss marker' everyone expects me to be because of my family!"

Turning towards Lily, she smiled. "I'm falling for him Lily, and I could care less what everyone in this tower thinks of it!"

Lily smiled and gave her a hug. "Good. You shouldn't. If he makes you happy, then fall for him," Lily giggled, "but Merlin save him if he ever breaks your heart! Gregory'd kill him!"

Aleanor laughed.

**~~~~~**

It was now their fifth year, and Aleanor was walking out of Potions with Lily. For the first time since their arrival at Hogwarts, they had Potions with Ravenclaw, which made the class twice as unbearable for Aleanor without having Severus there to help keep her calm, occasionally sliding his hand under the table to hold hers.

Since the infamous Library Incident, as the Marauders called it, few changes had occurred. There was only a slight change in Malfoy. He had become more tolerant of her and Severus, even managing to utter a hiss like "Delaney" through gritted teeth when addressing her once. Most of the time, however, Malfoy avoided her like the plaque; probably beside he'd hex her otherwise.

Severus divided his time between the blonde viper and herself, which suited her just fine. The frozen depths of space would still be a warm welcome compared to the reception Malfoy still afforded her, and that, she was sure, would never change. At least Severus doesn't let that get to him, she thought with a smile.

As the two red haired girls reached the top of the stairs leading up from the dungeons, Aleanor tapped Lily on the shoulder. "Lil, I'm going to the library, I'll see you at dinner."

"Alright Alie," she responded with a wink.

Looking forward to some time with Severus, she quickly made her way to the library. Turning a corner, she saw Renae Wallis, the brunette Ravenclaw running down the corridor, while Black stood by the library doors, rubbing his arm as he watched Renae disappear around the corner.

Walking over to him, Aleanor asked, "What did you do this time?"

Still staring at the corner behind which the girl disappeared, he answered, "I asked her to the Yule Ball."

Renae was Black's best friend, outside of the Marauders, and probably one of the few girls to escape the "Black Curse," that is to say, she hadn't had her heart broken by him, yet. Aleanor had figured one day Black would make his move, but being the wise Ravenclaw Renae was, she had apparently turned him down.

"She said no, didn't she?"

"Yeah," he answered solemnly.

Aleanor pointed to his arm. "And you couldn't take no for an answer?" She had seen Renae nail him in the arm once before.

He smiled. "You know me."

"Yeah, and I know Renae. You'll have a bruise by dinner."

Black chuckled. "Won't be the first time...or the last either, I'm sure!" Then he walked down the corridor towards the common room.

Rolling her eyes, Aleanor entered the library. Few people were there; most were enjoying a few hours of freedom after classes. Crossing the library in silence, her bag weighing heavily on her shoulder, she found Severus in their usual spot. At a small table, squeezed between a corner bookshelf and a window, he sat reading. Like usual.

Dropping her bag on the floor beside the table, she rested her hands on his shoulders. "Hi Severus," she leaned over to check out the book lying open in front of him, "Analytical Discussions on the Theories of Dark Arts Defense? You finished that other book already?"

Without lifting his eyes from the pages, he answered, "Yes."

Sitting down across from him, she gave a low whistle. "You're probably the only person I know who could possibly read their way through this library."

His head stationary, Severus rolled his eyes up to meet hers. "Don't you think you're exaggerating a bit?"

"Okay, maybe a little. Heaven knows you'd skip the Muggle Section." She chuckled as Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head. She knew his family's view on muggles by now, and though he was still very opinionated, he didn't make her muggle mother a topic of discussion. She wasn't about to either.

"So anything good in there?" she asked as she leaned forward, as if to read the book upside down.

He placed a hand over the open book. "Yes, quite a lot actually, though I'd hardly expect you to understand it."

Aleanor gave him a swift kick from under the table.

"Oww!"

"Good, you deserved that!" She sneered at him, a little habit she had picked up from her favorite Slytherin. "I may not get high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts like you, but then again I don't have as extensive a background in them either," she whispered.

Quickly he shut his book and leaned in towards her. "Aleanor, I don't practice Dark Arts for amusement and..."

"Severus, you don't need to explain yourself to me, we crossed that bridge nearly a year ago, remember? I know you're not some dark wizard in training," her tone chilled, "though I wouldn't put it past Malfoy."

"Aleanor, you just don't understand Lucius. He may be rather heartless, cruel, and otherwise loathsome to anyone not wearing a Slytherin badge, but you also don't know what life he's had to live either."

As their hands found each other and locked together, she said, "Yeah, but you don't exactly have a dream home life yourself, and you're nothing like Malfoy."

Severus chuckled. "I'm more like Lucius than you care to admit. He's like a brother to me, and though there are times I'd like to curse him into the next century, he's still the only family that has ever been there for me," his thumbs began to rub the backs of her hands, "so could you please end this session of Lucius bashing for today? I get rather tired of playing referee to you two."

Taking a deep breath and then slowly releasing it, she huffed, "Alright."

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, drinking in each other's eyes. Aleanor suddenly remembered Black. "Hey, I know something that will cheer you up, but you've got to promise you won't tell Malfoy." Rolling his eyes, he agreed. Looking to see who was around, she saw some Hufflepuffs sitting at the table behind Severus. She motioned for him to lean in more, and she whispered, "Black asked Wallis out to the Yule Ball, and he got a 'NO' along with a punch in the arm."

Severus broke out in laughter, drawing the attention of nearly everyone in the library. It was a rarity for him to ever laugh, and this one was such a deep bellowing laugh, it gave Aleanor goosebumps.

"Severus, quiet down, do you want us to get kicked out?" she asked grabbing his arm.

"No." He was still laughing.

Aleanor could here Madame Harvendish's heavy shoes pounding the stone floor towards them. "Severus! Where are we going to meet if she kicks us out?"

He shook his head as he tried to muffle his laughter.

Seeing students parting the way for the old librarian, Aleanor leapt out of her seat, pulling out her wand. "Silencio," she muttered aiming it at Severus, his voice finally extinguished. As Harvendish approached, Aleanor quickly spun around, blocking Severus from view while she held her wand behind her back.

Harvendish's face was cherry red as she made her way to the small table. Her short heavy frame looked more like pigs fighting under a plum blanket than limbs under a violet robe. The old woman's gray hair was pulled into a large bun on the back of her head, so tight in fact, it had the appearance of her being bald when viewed head on. In her hand, she smacked a ruler off her other palm. Aleanor swallowed hard as she poked Severus to tell him to hold still.

"Miss Delaney, I have suffered enough of you and your friend's disturbances to last me a lifetime! I have had it! You will both leave my library at once, and if I ever find the two of you together in here again, I will take you both to the Headmaster myself. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Nodding like a five year old facing a good whipping, Aleanor began to tremble. Severus grabbed her hand from behind her. Oh, NOW you get a hold of yourself!

****

Severus still had a hold of Aleanor's hand as she dragged him out of the library and into the empty Charms classroom. Closing the door, she turned to him, her face red with anger. "Now what are we going to do? We can't see each other in our common rooms, we can't go back to the library, and Merlin knows we can't meet in the Great Hall... damn Marauders," she muttered under her breath, bringing a smile to Severus' face.

She stared at him, awaiting an answer, her eyes boring into him deeper with each second of silence between them. Quickly, he pointed to his throat.

"Oh," Aleanor pulled out her wand, "sorry, I forgot." Aiming it at him, she lifted the spell.

"Thank you," he began, "now, if you will calm down, I will think of something. It's not like we haven't been seen together in public."

"Yeah, and then we have to put up with Malfoy's death glare and the Marauders plotting grins." She threw her hands up into the air. "Why does everyone have to make this so difficult?"

Severus walked over and took her hands in his. She looked at him, on the verge of tears, and began to smile as he rubbed the backs of her hands with his thumbs. The simplest things work with you. He smiled with the thought.

"Look, I know this is hard on you. You say you don't care what others think, but I know better...look at you, you're practically in tears."

"No I'm not."

Severus' eyebrow rose. "Really?" He wiped away a single tear that had escaped. "Then what is this?"

Trying to look as sincere as possible she replied, "My allergies... this room is dusty."

He grinned. "Aleanor, you know I see through that, so stop trying to be so damn noble. It's irritating, I prefer you crying than standing there, lying to me."

She looked down. Cupping her chin in his hand, he lifted her head until their eyes met again, this time she had several tears falling. "You have nothing to prove to me, Aleanor, you should know that by now. I know you better than you realize. Only Lily could possibly know you better, and I can live with that." He smiled, and she did the same. Quickly, he pulled her in for a kiss, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Slowly their lips parted and he ran his hand up her cheek as he laced his fingers in her hair. He held her like that, as he gazed into her dark blue eyes. "We leave for Christmas holiday in two days. We have the Yule Ball tomorrow night. Let's try and enjoy ourselves and when we get back, we'll work something out, alright?"

She nodded and nestled her head against his chest. Smiling, he ran his hand over her hair, than kissed the top of her head. I'll miss you more than you'll ever know!

~~~*~~~

Aleanor walked with Lily into the Great Hall. Aleanor wore navy blue dress robes; Lily wore emerald, each matching their eyes. Everyone knew by this point, that Aleanor was seeing Severus, but Lily had turned down every offer she had been given for the Ball. As they walked in, Aleanor watched as her friend scanned the room for Potter. She giggled.

Lily turned and looked at Aleanor. "What?"

"You... you enjoy tormenting Potter, don't you?"

A sly grin skipped across her friend's face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come off it, we both know you like him, so why are you still playing hard to get?"

Lily smiled as she found Potter standing with the Marauders across the room. "Because," she looked at Aleanor, "I don't feel like ending the chase yet. Maybe next year I'll give in."

Aleanor laughed.

"Okay, maybe the year after." Potter had noticed them. "Well, Aleanor, I'm off to be hunted."

"Bye Lily.... Play nice!" she called after her. As Lily left her by herself, she looked around for Severus. Not far from her stood a crowd of Slytherins, but she knew better than to ask if they had seen him. Ten minutes past as she stood there, alone, looking around desperately for the person she had spent an hour getting ready for.

"Severus, where are you?"