The Girl in the Picture

Chapter 1: The Gryffindor and the ring

September 24, 1976

I finally turned seventeen today and as usual he managed to ruin it! Explain to me how someone can be so thick that, after numerous warnings to leave me alone, they still hit on me. It's absolutely repulsive: we're cousins! I tried being nice to him when I refused him but I suppose I'm just too nice. He doesn't get the hint and after 7 years it's getting rather old.

It started rather innocently today; after our joint Potions class, Severus asked to speak to me. In hindsight I shouldn't have agreed but I had hoped that he had finally come to the realization that I haven't ever and will never be interested in dating him. You know, I used to feel bad for the poor bloke but now he's just sad and rather scary, so much so that I've even taken to avoiding him in class.

Today was the last straw! Isn't it funny how when someone threatens your life, you tend to avoid him from then on? He started out okay, though, wishing me happy birthday and all that, then in true Severus fashion he couldn't stop and got all serious (hehe, serious! That's funny...I'll talk about that later). He went on and on about how now since I'm seventeen and counted an adult in our society (exact words, by the way), I am able to make my own decisions about life and the path to take. You know this would be a lot easier if I just took you there.

"Sev, what are you trying to say?"

Great now I've interrupted his declaration of undying love and he'll pull his "sobbing" routine... or not.

"Just this." He smirks a little, showing those horrid yellow teeth of his and it is then that I feel his hand resting on my thigh, holding a ring box!

"What's in the box?" I ask. His sick grin unnerves me and I realize this must be funny for him. "Severus I'll ask again, what the bloody hell is in that box?"

"Why don't you just open it?" he snaps. Now the grin is gone. I suppose that's a good thing since the bile had risen to a dangerous level in my throat, and I figure it was getting serious. When we were younger, it was a contest between my siblings and me of could get Severus angry the fastest. Little did we know that his anger would turn out like this.

"Fine, give it here," I sigh. He hands it over, making sure that our hands touch for an unnecessary amount of time. Meanwhile, I stare at his eyes, so devoid of emotions. Of all the things making me wary of my cousin, it's his eyes and their lack of information about his thoughts.

The box is curiously heavy for its small size. I don't realize that I had opened it while staring into his hideous mug, but catch a thin blue light out the corner of my eye. Shaking my arm a little, I hope I hadn't just done what I though I had. Wishful thinking.

"So?" he calmly asks, taking my shaking hand in an attempt to calm me down. Of course, he doesn't realize this has the opposite effect. And I know it's not polite to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when this mouth is as unappealing as Severus'. But I'm not about to accept this piece of jewelry no matter how nice it is (and it is beautiful!), comprised of gold with a central sapphire, surrounded by small diamonds. What a pity that this beautiful ring has to be wasted on someone like Severus, I wonder how he got access to such a bauble? I mean, his family is in a bad state what with his dad leaving last year and his younger brother near death.

"I suppose your wondering how I came to acquire that."

No, I'm just thinking about the current state of affairs in Far East Asia -- of course I'm wondering if you nicked it you, stupid boy!

"Did you nick it?" Okay, Dor, the best way to do this is to stare at him like he does you. Taking a deep breath, I shut the box and look at him, waiting for that stupid eyebrow to go up into that greasy mess he calls hair, and there it goes!

"No, it was my father's and he left it for me to give to-" Even without Legilimency I know what he's going to say.

"SEVERUS FERGUS SNAPE! Don't you dare say the next thing on your mind!" Rising up and attempting to put as much distance between us as possible, I feel a sharp pull on my arm and the next second I'm flat on my bum in the middle of the hall. How did this go to the bucket so fast? Oh, I remember: he tried to propose to me!

"Dee, you know as well as I do that your condition will not hide itself forever and odds are that any offspring you have-" With that he grabbed the ring box and started to pace back and forth in front of me.

"Severus I know that I'm in a precarious position, I have been dealing with it for the past twelve or so years. So if you wouldn't mind helping me up and taking your ring back." The minute I finish that sentence I know I said the absolute wrong thing: as if he would ever accept his ring back without question! He comes up behind me and his hand reaches for my hair, but I cannot allow this. "Severus, I'm sorry."

He leaned against me, providing the perfect opportunity for me to slip away.

"It's okay Dor-" is the last thing he has a chance to say before he's flat on his bum in much the same position as me.

Rising up and over him I hear applause and my gaze shifts from the pitiful boy before me, to, well, a not-so-pitiful Gryffindor.

"Can I help you?" I ask. I don't know if I want him to answer "yes" or "no" but maybe he can help me pay Severus back for his "kindness".

That guy is putting it all out there isn't he! Doesn't he get the message that I'm interested by the fact that although my foot is on one man's chest my eyes are on another's? Guess not because now I see a smirk coming on. At least he does it justice, unlike Severus.

"I don't know if you can help me but I think I might be able to help you," the boy says slowly.

Before I can respond, I lose my footing as Severus pulls me flush against him. Okay, now that's just sick! I mean, I did not need to feel that to know you liked me.

"Black, you're assistance isn't required here so please shove off," Severus hisses. Great, just great! I am now not only the subject of my psycho cousin's obsession, but I've also stumbled into a feud. This just goes to prove once again the fact that boys can be so stupid sometimes. And as I am in the middle of a Duel at the Court of Hogwarts, I really have to figure out a way to get out of this and back to the Ravenclaw tower; at least there I know I'll only see people from my own house.

"So you're the infamous Sirius Black," I murmur. Oh yes Sirius "Slobbering Snoggerbags" Black. Apparently Sev caught him kissing a girl not five minutes after... wait! He did that and I'm attracted to him? Well I was attracted to him; sorry kid, your spotless face and perfectly straight teeth with their killer smile will no longer work on me.

"Yeah that's me. And you are?" I can't believe he's actually flirting with me while I'm in mortal peril.

"Sirius, get the hell away! It's a family matter, and unless I'm mistaken you aren't family." This is intriguing: Severus is more interested in his hatred for Sirius Black than his affection for me.

"Ah, so you have to resort to relatives to get a good snog, Snivellus? Isn't there a law about that or something?"

This is too easy, all it takes is some stupid comments about his trouble with romance and he's aflutter with insecurity.

"I think its called incest!" I snap back.

Perfect! Now he has no idea whom to go after first -- the cousin who thinks he's repulsive or the blood enemy who goes against every thing he holds dear. Wow, his eyes are actually showing some emotion.

Stepping away from him I gradually walk over to Sirius and all the while Severus is mumbling something about fate and necessity. Did he just say 'it must be done for the sake of the family'? Okay, now that's an interesting thing to say. I have to owl my parents as soon I get out of this mess. I have to hand it to Severus, though: the boy does an excellent job as a brooding angry young man. It's rather disconcerting.

"Hey, we'd better get out of here now," I warn Sirius.

Apparently a good old-fashioned fight can distract a man from a pretty girl. Don't mean to boast, but when you're a spokes-model and get fan post every week, you have to think that maybe you are a little more than good looking. Seeing his face now, I think he might have forgotten I was there, what with the prospect of beating his school foe.

"Aww, c'mon," he whispers, his face now a prime example of childish pouting, as he mourns the lost chance for some stress relief.

"No, I'm serious he's-"

"WHERE DO YOU TWO THINK YOU ARE GOING?" I have been witness to some of Severus' worst fits but I can tell that this one is going to be a little - no, make that a lot - different. I thought his eyes were full of emotion before, hah! That was nothing compared to the thunderstorm that's going on now behind them.

"Let me handle this, please," I whisper to Sirius. "I just want to get out of here without any punishment if that's possible." It takes what seems like an eternity for this to sink in but finally Sirius "Smarty Pants" Black realizes that I might have a better idea than resorting to fisticuffs.

"Fine, take it." With a final smile between us I step forward as Sirius relaxes and twirls his wand around in his fingers - a stupid move when dealing with an armed Severus Snape.

"Severus, calm down please!" I plead with him. He turns to me, as I become his biggest threat. Considering I'm the smallest out of the three of us, I suppose that's a compliment. "Listen, you don't want to hurt us."

For the second time this afternoon I realize that I don't know as much about my younger cousin as I thought I did. He starts laughing maniacally and I wonder if he's plotting my untimely demise. The only consolation I have is that since I'm in the hall and he's in the alcove I have access to an easy escape. It's beyond me as to why I'm not taking this chance, but I have a feeling I should stay for the whole row.

While Severus is distracted in his own plotting, I manage to look behind me to see a window. I know that we are a good deal away from the Potions classroom so the window has to be either above the Lake or the stone courtyard. I hope it's the latter, but with my luck it's probably the former.

"You're right cousin," Severus seethes. Okay, Sev, he gets the picture: we're related, get over it. "I don't want to hurt you but unfortunately I feel I have to. After all, I can't have you running off with a blood traitor when you have the option of a perfectly acceptable match -albeit with a half-blood- available to you." Crossing his arms and pushing a strand of that horrid hair behind his ear, he attempts to play it calm and collected, failing miserably. I can bet he's adding to a never ending list of reasons for hating Sirius Black and his Merry Band of Gryffindors, and maybe, just maybe making a new list of hatred just for yours truly.

"Snape," Sirius growls. Oh no, please don't say anything else, just shut up! "You touch a hair on her head and-" I told you to shut up! You just proved his point, you idiot!

"You mean like this?" As Severus pointed his wand at me, I thought I could hear him utter the incantation of a spell to cause vertigo. Hold on that was Black shouting at Severus, which means... I got hit with Severus' spell.

My right leg snaps in two and I'm hit with almost blinding pain...

"Can you hear me?" Opening my eyes I stare into the most amazing gray eyes. Oh, that's Black -- the guy I really shouldn't be the least bit attracted to. "Um, hello? Your eyes are open so you must be aware. Can you say anything?" As he turns away to look down the hall for help, I hear him mumble something about not knowing my name but there's an easy solution for that.

"Dorcas," I groan. He turns back to me, giving me another chance to...no Dor, you can't think those thoughts when you're in this much pain, damn it!

A relieved smile crosses his face and I feel myself light up with a silly grin.

"Okay...Dorcas, if I help you, do you think you can make it to the hospital wing?" Sirius asks. You know gray eyes -- stop it Dorcas -- right, the need for medical attention trumps the need for a snog.

"I think I can manage that." I extend my hand to meet his outstretched one and he gently pulls me up to a sitting position. Looking into the alcove, I notice that while I was out cold Sirius was making good on his threat to harm Severus if he harmed me. What he doesn't realize however is that the spell that Severus cast will force me to heal without the aid of any potion or other remedy Madam Pomfrey has to offer. In other words, I'm going to have to heal like a Muggle.

Looking closely at Severus, I realize that he is able to see everything around him but unable to act on any of it.

"How much longer do we have?" I ask. This jinx looks good but every spell has a time limit.

"Dunno," Sirius says with a shrug, which is exactly what I don't need right now. "I've never mixed that jinx with any other before then. Either it'll last really long or since some of-"

Well that's one way of getting attention, I guess but vomit is rather unappealing to most people. "Right, well, let's both get cleaned up and put a little bit of it on our friend over there and leave, if you like this idea blink twice for yes, thrice for no." Doubling my blink, we are rid of my vomit and burden Severus with it. He looks good wearing Essence of Dorcas with a bit of Ham Sandwich.

"I don't think I can walk," I say. Looking down at my leg it seems that it actually got worse. At least, it feels worse.

"Right, well that does look worse. Okay, do you want me to carry you?"

What?

"I know it's a little fairy-tailish."

You said it, mate!

"But Snape's improving. And I don't think you'd want me to leave you alone with him once he comes out of it."

Okay I know he's probably milking this excuse but it's a good one and I'm in pain. All I need to sink the deal is one look back at Severus, who is now diagonal with his head pointing downward. I really have to get this spell from this guy when all this is said and done.

"Let's just get the hell out of here; I don't care how you do it." Okay perhaps that could have been taken multiple ways but does that give him any right to look at me as if I had said a curse? Perhaps. "I just need to do one thing." Looking around, I reach for my wand just as Severus is able to yell something worthy of the jelly-legs jinx I give him.

"Nice hit," Sirius cheers. Good to know I can impress some people even though I'm intensely injured. "But who do you think was that girl he was raving about?"

"I don't know, but I'm not her," I lie, boldfaced. With that, we manage our way to the hospital wing. God, this is so embarrassing.