When a Student Becomes a Friend

Argus Filch angrily surveyed his now green cat and wondered how he could possibly prove it was those wretched Marauders. He was sure Sirius Black had been the one to dye his cat, probably while James Potter was on the lookout for him. How he hated those two!

A knock on the door brought Filch's head up. "What is it?" he snarled.

Dumbledore opened the door and, with that annoying twinkling in his eyes, looked at his poor cat. "I see you've been having trouble with some of the students again."

Filch growled at him, taking his cat off the desk and into his arms as he glared at Dumbledore. "I'm sure that the Marauders', and what an asinine name that is, antics amuse you, but they don't me. Mr. Pickle is a very sensitive cat and the last time they dyed him a color he was sick for a week!"

Dumbledore smiled that irritating benign smile, and shrugged his shoulders. "They are just having some fun."

"Hmmmm!" Filch bit out, standing up with his beloved cat and leaving his own office to get away from the annoying Headmaster, who thought all children were precious things to coddle instead of being whipped into shape like they needed to be.

Hopefully, one day, he would get to use those chains and other torture devices he had on misbehaving students. His hands itched to get themselves on the Marauders to be his first object lessons. But Dumbledore didn't approve of such necessary conduct improvers.

He walked through the halls and tried to stare down the giggling students as they caught sight of his cat. Stupid kids! Always thinking they were better than him because they could do magic! He would show them one day, when he had them hanging from their toes on his office ceiling, that magic only got you so far.

"Your cat is green," said a voice to his right.

Filch steeled his body and turned to the voice, expecting to see a group of giggling kids, but all he saw was the greasy black haired first year that had everyone wondering if he was a vampire. He did look sallow skinned enough to be one.

"The Marauders," Filch spat the name, "did this to Mr. Pickle. Last time they dyed him a color he was sick for a week!" Filch roared, knowing no one would care but angry about it all the same.

The boy clucked his tongue, actually looking sympathetic. "I could turn them a color if you want me to," he volunteered.

Filch looked closely at him, wondering if the kid was mocking him, but he looked serious enough. Plus, according to the rumors, the kid with the greasy hair, Filch couldn't remember his name, knew more curses than the sixth years and most of the seventh years.

"Make Black green, Potter pink, Lupin orange, and Pettigrew yellow," he decided, figuring the boy wouldn't do it, just run to his classmates and have a good laugh at the old nasty cranky caretaker.

"Sure," the boy said. "My name is Severus, by the way," he said, taking his wand out and walking up to Mr. Pickle.

Filch was about to turn from him, but the boy was too quick for him. His wand flicked, a spell was said, and his cat was back to his normal color.

"There," Severus, nodding satisfactorily. "If your cat gets sick, tell me and I'll whip up a potion for him. If," the boy said, looking around, "you let me use your office. Professor Mayor doesn't like me."

Filch had heard about that. The new Head of Slytherin House hated the Slytherins.

"Maybe," Filch said, looking darkly at the kid, wondering why he was helping him.

Severus smiled at him and waved good-bye, heading away, to the library from the looks of it. That was where Severus was found usually, when his friends weren't dragging him away from his books, and apparently his large friend, Evan Rosier, had to literally drag Severus away from his books.

Filch shook his head, figuring that Severus and his two friends he hung out with would have a good laugh about this.

Mr. Pickle got sick from his dying job on schedule the next day and Filch, walking down to the Great Hall, wondered if Dumbledore would concoct a potion for him to give to his cat. But, he was sure, Dumbledore probably had more important things to worry about than his caretaker's cat. Even if the cat was the only friend that Filch had.

Filch walked into the Great Hall and stopped. There, standing in front of the Head Table, were the Marauders. All four weren't just dyed a color, but glowing that color! Black was electric green, Potter was shocking pink, Lupin was a vivid orange, and Pettigrew was bright yellow.

All the Slytherins were howling with laughter while the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs tried to contain their grins and snickers. The Gryffindor table looked upset that their four best pranksters had been brought down.

"Who did this?" Dumbledore asked them, trying not to laugh himself.

Filch walked to an empty seat and looked over at the Slytherin table to see Severus Snape smiling at him. Filch, for the first time, grinned back at a student.

"It was Snape!" Black thundered. "Who else?!"

Filch could have sworn that Black sounded wounded. Probably angry that another student had upstaged him.

"Severus?" Dumbledore called. "Did you do this to these four boys?"

Filch expected Severus to deny it but he just nodded his head. The two kids flanking him, a short, squat girl and Evan Rosier, were giggling like mad. Severus, however, looked serious.

"Would you mind undoing it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Can't," came his matter-of-fact voice, "it lasts for twenty-four hours."

The Slytherins nearly fell out of their chairs laughing and pounding the table.

"Go Sevi!" screamed a seventh-year Slytherin girl.

Black's face, though he was dyed green, managed to turn red.

Most of the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws lost their battles and buried their heads in their arms, laughing.

Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders. "What can I do? I'm sorry boys, you'll just have to go through your classes looking like that today."

Filch smiled widely. What a sweet revenge!

The four Marauders looked at each other and then walked to the Gryffindor table, trying to keep their heads up but the Slytherins were making it difficult.

"I need a night light tonight," one called out, "would one of you mind volunteering?"

"I lost something in the dungeons, would one of you mind coming with me to get it? It's so dark down there!"

"Instead of torches, why don't we put one of them up on the brackets?" called another one.

Filch slapped his leg, finally allowing himself to laugh out loud.

The rest of the day was great! The Marauders were finally the butt of a prank and got to see, first hand, how it felt to get laughed at. Black and Pettigrew took it hard, glaring at Severus every chance they got, but the boy just shrugged his thin shoulders while his two friends glared menacingly at them. Filch wished he could remember the girl's name.

Potter and Lupin, amazingly, took it well, and by the end of the day were laughing at themselves and volunteering to be night lights for people. Potter even went so far as to hang himself from a bracket in a dark hallway for awhile.

Filch cornered Severus as soon as he saw him without his two friends and asked him about the potion for his cat. Severus happily agreed and came to his office the next day to prepare it after class.

"What is the girl's name you hang out with?" Filch finally asked him while Severus carefully dropped shredded bat spleen into the bubbling orange liquid.

"Florence Wilkes," he answered, sniffing the potion. "It's done," he said, extinguishing the fire with a flick of his wand.

Filch was rather surprised a first year could do a potion so well. Severus put a small bowl into the potion and then set it carefully on Filch's desk. Mr. Pickle jumped onto the desk and licked it up.

"Give it to him twice a day for a week and he won't get sick," Severus said. "You can bottle the rest up and use it the next time Mr. Pickle gets sick."

Filch thanked him and watched Mr. Pickle nudge Severus's hand. Severus petted him for a bit and then waved to Filch.

"I best go," he said, grinning. "Be sure to tell me if you ever need revenge against the Marauders again!"

"Oh, don't worry," Filch assured him. "I will!"

When he left, Filch surveyed the potion with a grin. Maybe not all kids were idiots that needed to be tortured.

The End!