Two Old Friends

Chapter 4

"What, exactly, was wrong with your sister, aside from her lack of experience?" I ask, seriously curious.

"She was psychotic, Severus," she says, as if the answer is obvious. "I mean - she was so determined to be everything that our parents weren't, she turned almost exactly like them. I'm amazed Christopher stayed with her for so long. She was obsessive, all she ever did was clean and guilt-trip. Every time something bad happened she blamed it on me or if I acted differently she assumed it was your fault. She always gave me these ridiculous little sex lectures. I believe her exact quote was 'you must stay clean otherwise you will turn out like Mother.' And you know how much I loved my mother and I could only dream to be what Mother was. Our family wasn't always abusive." She takes a second to sip her coffee, and then continues venting.

"She used to read my diaries and then punish me for writing about some boy I liked or whatever. And then she found out that I had a thing for Lucius Malfoy and she completely flipped out. She was saying how much older than me he was and how awful his family was... Then she'd praise me for choosing a boy with money. She was always changing house rules and harping on Christopher for giving me money to buy sugar-items or what have you. She assumed that I was out buying drugs or something."

"Ah, yes. Little did she know you were with a drug-dealer all the time," I interrupt.

"Actually, she did find out. That's why I left."

"She's the one who told my parents that I had drugs!" I exclaim furiously. "I have a bloody scar because of her!" Adriana shrugs.

"Sorry?" she offers pitifully. I rub my scar, sneering at her spitefully.

"So, what about you? What did you do after the world came to an end and I left your lovely neighbourhood?" she asks.

"Less that what I did before - mind you, I didn't do much when you were around, anyway." She nods agreeably. "You know what I did, Adriana. Just because you didn't live next to me anymore we still saw each other all the time during the summer. And we did go to school together."

"Meh."

"So. That was an exciting chat, don't you agree?" I say dryly.

"Then in fifth year. We were harassed even more about the ever looming O.W.L.s and possible career choices."

"Oh, yes. What an exciting year that was. I had to deal with Potter and Black all over again," I say bitterly, crossing my arms. Adriana shakes her head. "What? It was a big deal for me."

"How long has it been since the O.W.L.s incident?"

"Not long enough."

"One would think that you'd get over it by now. It's been over thirty years, let it go," she tells me tiredly.

"It's not that simple. I was humiliated!"

"And you took every opportunity to get your revenge. It's over." I grunt something inaudible. She rolls her eyes. A habit of hers she always had and never put into consideration to drop.

~*~

"So, what're you lot going to do with your pathetic excuses for lives after this thrill ride known as school?" I asked, organizing my career pamphlets.

"I'm going to run a dictatorship in a small country in South America whose name I shall change to Mi Dictadura- which means 'My Dictatorship,'" Adriana said proudly. "But between graduation and then, I don't know."

"You're very creative with the name, there," I said sarcastically. She ignored my comment and continued rambling about her future dictatorship.

"Maybe you ought to be Lucius's whore, Adriana, you'd get paid good money doing that - he's loaded," Bellatrix said bitterly. Adriana stopped talking to look at her friend.

"What is your problem, Bella?" she asked calmly.

"Well, since you've only seen him every single day and I know you've spent the night at his house on more than one occasion. Surely you could charge him per blow." Macnair chortled stupidly.

"What Lucius and I do is none of your business. Why are you jealous? You've got Rudolph over there." Lestrange grimaced at the nickname Adriana dubbed him when they first met.

"I'm not jealous. What you're doing is illegal, Adriana," Bella sneered. Adriana laughed.

"Like you ought to be worrying about anything illegal."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"You and I know perfectly well the only way you're passing Herbology is by giving Gabriel a little more than extra effort in your extra credit classes with him!" Adriana hissed.

"Ah!" Bella gasped in a very insulted manner. "How dare you insinuate that I'm selling myself for a bloody grade!"
"You barely scraped up a grade in the Herbology end of term exams last year! I saw your grade! It was dismal. There is no way you could have gotten into that extra class without some sort of extracurricular activity."

"How dare you!" Bella screeched again, and slapped Adriana. Adriana immediately put her under the full-body bind.

"Touch me again, not only will I tell Dumbledore about your and Gabriel's little affair, I'll also tell Narcissa that you took her handcuffs," Adriana said simply. She lifted the curse. Bella glared at her, but refrained from returning any curses. She sniffed and flipped her hair out of her face.

"I, Severus, am going to join the Dark Lord and hopefully set up my own little shop in Knockturn Alley. Maybe you'd like to help with the supply?" she said, turning to me to answer my former question.

"My dad's getting me a job in the Ministry - I'm hoping to be able to help the Dark Lord with inside information," Macnair said.

"Good for you," Bella and Adriana said at the same time. They exchanged glances and then grinned. I'm assuming they forgave each other right then, because they didn't fight again.

"Well, I've just witnessed my miracle for the time being," I said, continuing to organize my pamphlets.

"We've no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh! I know what I can do now," Adriana suddenly said. We all looked at her. "I can be an Unspeakable!"

"Why?" I asked, reminded of my father's career.

"I dunno. I always wanted to know what exactly it was that they did." I snorted.

"Where will you live?" Wilkes asked.

"You're not staying at my house forever," Bella said.

"I'll probably live with you," she said, looking at me. "Or maybe Lucius."

"What is going on between the two of you, or do I want to know?" Macnair asked. Adriana shrugged.

"Not much, really. He's really great to me, though. You should see the stuff he bought me. See this bracelet?" She took off her bracelet and held it up for us to see. "Isn't it divine? It's part of an entire collection he bought me! It's called Star's Divinity, or something like that."

"Merlin... You must be doing something right for him to spend a ridiculous amount of gold on you," Lestrange said. She grinned.

"I'm doing a lot of things right, if you know what I mean. He bought be this lovely piece he wants me to wear on the first Hogsmeade trip."

"Oh, my god. Not that weird strip of cloth I got confused with a hair net?" Bella said. Adriana blushed. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you realize he's only giving you this stuff because he likes your body?" I said unconcernedly.

"Yea. I guess Bella's right, in a way. But I really like him. I dunno. Maybe this'll actually go somewhere." Bella and I exchanged glances and shook our heads.

"Say, can we see this piece Malfoy's looking forward to?" Macnair asked suggestively. I hit him. He shut up.

"I know you're going to say that what we're doing is illegal and not good, especially for Lucius," Adriana said, reading my expression. "But you, as his dealer, have no place to criticize."

"I couldn't care less what you and Lucius are up to. But, just so you know, I know Lucius and once he realizes that his reputation can be slaughtered by this, he will not hesitate to throw you aside and move on to someone his own age." Adriana smirked contently.

"We graduate in two years. The outcome can't be that brutal."

Despite Adriana's little fling, there was still career advice that we had to attend. I was still utterly clueless as to what I wanted to be and was prepared to be told that I was going to become a homeless beggar at my meeting with Gabriel.

"Mr. Snape, please, sit," he said, looking over notes from my teachers. I did as he asked. "Well, after looking at pamphlets, what appeals to you?"

"Erm... actually, I couldn't find anything that looked particularly interesting, sir," I said. He raised his rusty coloured eyebrows.

"Really? Well, your grades are all outstanding, especially your Defence Against the Dark Arts and Potions and Arithmancy, all of which you are being given Exceeds Expectations. However, your Astronomy is lacking, where you have a wavering Acceptable. And you could do better in History of Magic. Ancient Runes you're receiving an Outstanding... Oh, and Transfiguration you definitely have an Exceeds Expectations and that's definitely saying something considering Professor McGonagall's strict grading. Herbology, right with Potions, you are getting an E... You seem to be doing well in all of your classes. You qualify for nearly everything that requires the classes you take. Are you sure there's nothing?" I shook my head.

"Well, do you have any other talents you'd like to advance and use in the job industry?"

"Erm... I'm not horrible at drawing..." I said almost abashedly. He looked at me sternly.

"You know that artistry is not highly regarded as a career choice. And by my observations, you do not seem to hold an artist's mind or view on life. If you were to be an artist, you'd have to accept starvation as a definite possibility and disgrace from the wizarding population - you'd look like someone looking for a free ride." I pursed my lips thoughtfully.

"I don't know, sir. Bellatrix Black said that she wanted to run a shop and that I could be her supplier." He clapped his hands.

"That's a fantastic idea. I just had my meeting with her and she definitely has a strong business woman's head on her shoulders," he said, looking at his notes from her meeting. "You'd most likely be making the potions at home, so you could also spend your time stepping in potions exploration and invent new concoctions." By his tone stressing on 'new concoctions' I could tell he meant by new potions for the Dark Lord. At the time, this seemed very exciting.

"Sir, that definitely sounds like an idea," I said thoughtfully. He grinned at me.

"Then that concludes our meeting. Off you go." I left the office, feeling much more sure about my future than before.

"How'd it go?" Adriana asked me when I met her at Ancient Runes. I shrugged.

"Pretty good. And you?"

"I told him about the Unspeakable idea and he called me a nosy prat." I snorted.

"You probably should have gone with the idea that you felt that you were capable of handling the burden of secrecy as you advanced our Ministry to new heights and that you were prepared to simply accept that you had help in that advancement and let the success be well known in your own heart when your name isn't in the Daily Prophet," I told her, taking out my translations homework. Adriana snorted herself.

"You translated that wrong," she said, pointing at my homework. I rolled my eyes and scratched it out before it was handed in.

O.W.L.s had come and gone. I studied ruthlessly. Adriana glanced at a few notes and claimed she knew all of it. Everyone else in Slytherin fifth year seemed to try to let this be their alibi as well, trying to show that they were too cool to study. However, I knew that they were all studying under their blankets into the dead of night.

"Quills down please! That means you too, Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!" Flitwick squeaked. I sighed in relief. Adriana was a few seats away.

I'm going to go to the kitchens with Bella, she mouthed. Want to come? I shook my head, sick with anxiety of there being a spelling error on my parchment and failing because of it. She shrugged and turned to Bella to tell her my answer. Flitwick excused us and I ambled out of the Great Hall with my question sheet, reading it over, mentally making sure I got everything right. I sat by a clump of bushes and continued to exam my exam paper. I sat for about five or so minutes and finally decided that if I had made a mistake, there was nothing I could do about it. I stood up, stuffing it in my bag and started walking towards the castle to try to distract myself with being sickened by watching Adriana and Bellatrix eat instead of the tests. But then, of course, the Dream Team noticed me.

"All right, Snivellus?" Potter said loudly. I pulled out my wand and dropped my bag, but Potter disarmed me first.

"Impedimenta!" Black said, laughing like the idiot he was as I tried to fetch my wand. My peers decided to watch. Asses, the entire lot of them. Black and Potter approached me, their wands advanced. Potter kept on glancing hopefully over at the lake where Lily Evans was.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" Potter inquired.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment. There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word," Black said, smiling cruelly.

"You - wait," I panted, glaring with the darkest of all hatred, resenting the fact that we weren't in a dark corridor instead of in the middle of the sunny courtyard, for all of the Hogwarts student body to watch. "You - wait..."

"Wait for what?" Sirius said, his cleverness being delayed when he could have thought of something wittier to say instead of, "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?" I let out a stream of swear words mixed with curses, one of them being Chu'mana. It was quite unfortunate that the swear words interfered with it considering the loathing I had at the moment definitely would have managed to summon up some sort of deadly song, despite that my wand was ten feet away.

"Wash your mouth!" Potter said as if whatever chill there was in his voice could match the daggers I was staring at him with. "Scourgify!" Pink soap bubbles filled my mouth and started choking me.

"Leave him ALONE!" Evans came stomping along from the lake. I definitely did not need her to be my saviour. For some sick reason she tried to make it a hobby to be my rescuer from the Dream Team.

"All right, Evans?" Potter said, trying to sound mature.

"Leave him alone," Evans repeated. "What's he done to you?"

"Well, it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..." Many of the idiots who called themselves students chortled stupidly.

"You think you're funny, but you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone." 'Toerag'?

"I will if you go out with me, Evans. Go on... Go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again." Slowly, the impediment jinx started to wear of. I managed to inch toward my wand.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid," Evans said. I managed to stifle a snort. I got my wand.

"Bad luck, Prongs. Oy!" Black said, noticing me. I sent a curse at Potter, cutting his face. Potter then hung me upside down, my clothes falling to reveal my skinny legs and greying underwear. I could have killed him then and there. I noticed that Evans was tempted to laugh. Just those twitches at the corners of her mouth made me decide to join the Dark Lord as soon as I got out of school so I could kill Potter, Black, Pettigrew, and Lupin (though he wasn't doing anything), and that Mudblood and her Muggle filth family.

"Let him down!" she said, her voice less stern.

"Certainly," Potter said, jerking his wand. I fell and was about to wave my wand to shout some sort of Unforgivable, but Black shouted, "Locomotormortis!" I was as stiff as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Evans shouted. She drew her wand.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," Potter said.

"Take the curse off him, then!" I was praying that one of the Slytherins would come over and kill them off for me. They were always around when I didn't need them, but the one time I needed them and their Dark Magic ways, they were stealing food from the kitchens. Potter sighed and muttered the countercurse.

"There you go. You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus."

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!" I spat, furious that dared Potter to use my spell. Lily blinked.

"Fine. I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, Snivellus."

"Apologize to Evans!" Potter roared at me, his wand pointed on me. As if that was something new.

"I don't want you to make him apologize. You're as bad as he is!"

"What? I'd NEVER call you a - a you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK!" And she wandered off.

"Evans! Hey, EVANS!" Potter shouted. "What is with her?" he tried to say casually.

"Reading between the lines, I'd say she thinks you're a bit conceited, mate," Black said. Smartest thing he managed to put into words.

"Right. Right..." He then flipped me back in the air. Why I didn't go when I could, I don't know. I think I was pondering on what curse I could use on them without getting into major trouble. Unfortunately, I was too slow.

"Who wants to see me take off Snivelly's pants?" Potter said with cruel mirth.

"DAMMIT, POTTER! IF YOU DARE -"

"What will you do, Snivelly? Seems you can't do much from the position you're in now, can you? You're going to pay for calling Evans that!"

"Oh, yes, I know that what I said really tore her to pieces. I believe it's you who fancies her? You're not getting anywhere with being the conceited ASS that you are, you filthy, foul, disgusting disgrace to the Wizarding World Mudblood lover! What are you going to do, Potter? Marry her and make a bunch of filthy half-bloods? I hear that Mudbloods carry diseases, your dick is sure to fall off if you ever do manage to get into her pants!" I shouted with great difficulty because of the blood that was rushing to my head.

"Well, at least I'll be able to say that I got her pants off, as well as yours! It'll be more than any witch'll ever be able to say. I see you hanging out with that Rodriguez chick, a bit too tartly for your ugliness. I suggest you let her be, otherwise your grease will spread to her. I think it already has, considering that her hair is so greasy now!"

"You think insulting Adriana is going to get me anymore pissed? I think it's your mate there who's trying to get up her skirt, too. The filthy dog, that he is."

"Oy, James, you ought to do something with him before I do," Black said, suddenly becoming quite surly. It was very well known that Black fancied Adriana, but Bellatrix wouldn't allow him anywhere near her. Not that Adriana cared, she thought he was scum anyway.

"Right-o, Padfoot," James said with malice. He flicked his wand and my pants came off. The entire courtyard rang with laughs.

"Interesting taste you've got, Potter," came Adriana's voice. "I didn't realize you were a fairy, no wonder you try to get that Mudblood to go out with you. You should pick your beards a little better."

"Oh, look, Snivellus! It's another girl coming to fight your battles! She must be serious, her greasiness can definitely account for her loyalty this time."

"HAMAR!" Adriana screeched, waving her wand gracefully. Suddenly, Potter yelped in pain as his body swung from the invisible hammer that had hit him squarely in the face so that his nose bled. I fell and scrambled to get my pants.

"Whoa, that was some serious Dark Magic!" Black said pointlessly. "You'll get in big trouble for that one!"

"ADOFO!" I sent my panther at Black. He writhed and screamed in pain as the silvery panther stood on him and scratched at him with his great claws. Lupin continued to sit at the beech tree, trying desperately to disregard the serious trouble we were getting ourselves into.

"MR. SNAPE! MISS RODRIGUEZ!" McGonagall came barrelling out. "WHAT--Oh my... GIVE THE COUNTERCURSE TO THAT AT THIS MOMENT!!" I stared at Black. It then occurred to me that that was my first time summoning adofo. The panther, however, followed my thoughts and prowled faithfully to my side and evaporated at my wand tip. McGonagall stared at the two of us, clutching her heart. She then looked around at the students who were staring in horror and saw Lupin still at the lake. Her eyes narrowed.

"Mr. Lupin!" she called out furiously. He looked up and stood up immediately, almost as if he had just realized that there was just a scene. "YOU ARE A PREFECT! HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN!" Lupin stuttered something incomprehensible.

"FIFTY POINTS FROM YOUR HOUSES, EACH! AND A MONTH OF DETENTIONS, FOR ALL OF YOU! I WILL BE REPORTING THIS TO THE HEADMASTER, HEAD OF HOUSE, AND PARENTS!!" she hissed at Adriana and I. "I WANT AN EXPLANATION! YOU! DAVIDSON! EXPLAIN!" A Ravenclaw stepped forward tremulously.

"Erm... James Potter and Sirius Black were harassing Snape. They had him in the air and took his pants off. Lily Evans came over and tried to get them to stop before he took off his pants, but Snape called her the 'M' word and she left. So Potter took off his pants. Then the Spanish girl--" Adriana rolled her eyes. "Came over and implied that Potter was gay for taking off Snape's pants, and Potter insulted her, so she cursed him. And then Snape fell and cursed Black, Professor McGonagall, ma'am." McGonagall's nostrils flared furiously.

"PETTIGREW! Take Black and Potter to the Hospital Wing! Rodriguez, Snape, I will be reporting this to your head of house, parents, and Headmaster -"

"But, Professor McGonagall..."

"WHAT?!" she demanded.

"I don't have any parents... well, my dad, I guess you can write to, but he can't do anything, can he?" she said in a small voice. I would have laughed if I wasn't still in jeopardy. McGonagall's face softened slightly.

"I-I... Yes... that was very insensitive of me. But that doesn't get you out of trouble! I will still contact your head of house about this! Now get out of my sight, the both of you! Lupin! Come with me, I want to have a long talk about this!" Lupin looked at us sadly and followed McGonagall to her office. The two of us scampered off.

"I wonder how much trouble we'll get in by Dumbledore," Adriana said.

"Well... we'll either get expelled for performing Dark Magic or get let off out of pity and he'll try extra hard on us to convert us to Mudblood saviours like him." Adriana nodded. "I'll tell you something, if I hadn't decided earlier, it's definite now. As soon as I get out of this Hellhole, I'm going straight to the Dark Lord and swearing my allegiance to him," I said darkly. Adriana nodded agreeing.