Slugging It Out

Chapter 8 - The Half-Blood Prince

It was the last day of term and Hogwarts had a strange, excitable feel about it. Lessons were over and everyone was in a happy flurry of activity. Lucius and the others were packing up their trunks for the last time, leaving Hogwarts forever. Severus sat on his mentor's bed, carefully folding clothes. Lucius was going through his books. 'Rune Dictionary - never likely to need that again, thank goodness. D'you want it, Severus?'

Severus shook his head. 'No thanks,' he said glumly, transferring a pile of robes into the trunk.

'Cheer up!' The older boy suddenly jumped up and sat next to Severus on the bed. 'You look like you've lost a Galleon and found a Knut.'

'I'm all right,' said Severus, embarrassed. He performed a summoning charm and a moment later was covered in odd socks which flew at him from all angles. He held one up. 'Is this yours?'

Lucius examined it dubiously. 'No... it might be Walden's... though looking at it, it might have belonged to whoever had this dormitory before us.' The two boys viewed the sock with distaste, before Lucius flicked his wand and sent it into the fireplace.

'So you're going travelling,' said Severus, for something to say.

'Yes, I suppose so. One has to do something with oneself. See Atlantis and all that. Cissy's going off to France for a year so there's not much point hanging around here. Macnair is keen to come with me, though I'm not sure if I can bear his company undiluted for several months. I think I might prefer to go it alone. Then once I get back, I suppose I'll do all the usual things. Join pater in his business affairs, get married... and so on and so forth.'

'Yeah, of course,' said Severus. He took some books out of the trunk and restacked them unnecessarily. He felt suddenly heavy hearted. He couldn't see any place for a half-blooded misfit in Lucius' future. He realised Lucius would move on and leave him behind.

He remained gloomy for the entire journey home. He was in a compartment with Rosier, Wilkes, Avery and Mulciber, fourth years who were part of Lucius' gang. They spent the whole time discussing their big plans for the summer. Severus kept his nose in Magical Drafts and Potions, occasionally making a note in the margin of something to try. Potions were the only things he could practice in the holidays.

When the train stopped at King's Cross, Severus got stuck in a queue waiting to get off the train. By the time he emerged onto the platform, he looked around frantically for Lucius, but there was no sign of the older boy or any of his crowd. He stood, forlorn and alone amidst the crowds of people, embracing and chattering and calling greetings and farewells.

'Severus! Severus!' He had been so caught up in self-pity, he didn't hear Lily calling him until she tapped his shoulder. He turned and saw her there, her beautiful red hair down to her waist, smiling at him and holding out her hand, Sooty's basket in the other. It was like a visitation from heaven. 'I'm here. Come on, Mum and Dad will meet us on the other side of the barrier.'

His face broke into a crooked smile. Who needed Lucius when he had Lily, a whole six weeks of Lily's company, all to himself? They heaved their trunks onto a trolley and made their way to the barrier. Lily was bright and bouncy, full of her plans for the summer. The Evanses were driving back from London, and had offered to take Severus as well. He'd gratefully accepted, glad not to risk incurring his father's wrath over the inconvenience and train fares before he'd even set eyes on his son.

Mr and Mrs Evans were waiting on the Muggle side of the barrier, and Lily rushed over to hug them. Severus did not come from a huggy family, and hung back awkwardly. He turned away, staring across the concourse to where the ugly Muggle trains stood. He glanced down at his trunk, and when he looked up, Lucius Malfoy was standing in front of him.

'I thought I'd missed you,' said the older boy, with a smile. 'You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye?' He held out a hand, and Severus shook it. Lucius' grip was very tight. 'Until we meet again.' He stepped back and smiled, then pushed something into Severus' hand, nodded curtly, turned on his heel and was gone.

Severus looked at the object. It was a package, wrapped in black paper. 'Come on Sev, we're going!' called Lily. He pushed the gift into his pocket. In the car on the long journey back up north, he felt the size and shape of it there. He didn't join in Lily's enthusiastic chatter about school, her descriptions of the castle and the end of term feast and the Quidditch final. He was quite happy to watch her, listen to her. The way she widened her big green eyes when making a point, the way she screwed up her nose when she smiled. He loved having her there, so close to him. He wanted the journey to never end.

But of course it did, and soon he was back at Spinner's End, hiding his trunk away in his bedroom where his father wouldn't notice it. His mother greeted him without enthusiasm. She had a faint bruise on her cheek, he noticed. 'Have a good year, did you?' she asked him.

'Yeah, not bad,' he replied. 'We won the House Cup, just by twenty points. Those Gryffindunce prats looked sick as dogs.'

For a moment, she smiled properly, reaching her eyes. 'I remember in me sixth year, we won by two points. I got ten points right at the end of term, for winning the Gobstones championship. We had such a party that night! Aye, Slyths know how to celebrate all right.'

Excited by this reminiscence of her school days, Severus dared to ask, 'If I could get a Gobstones set, we could play, if you like? Over the summer. I'm not much good, but you could teach me.'

For a moment the smile stayed, but then it faded, her eyes clouding and shutting down again. 'Better not. Your father wouldn't like it.'

'He doesn't need to know! We can keep it hidden, with my other things. He's out at the pub...'

'No, Severus, we're under his roof. He'll find out, you know he always does. Not worth the hassle, not for a stupid game.' She turned away from him, and continued chopping cabbage.

He felt anger rise inside him. 'It's just a game of Gobstones! You're a witch, and you don't even use a cutting charm when he isn't here to see!'

'That's enough of your lip, young man,' she said, but without passion. 'I'd have thought Hogwarts would have taught you to keep a civil tongue.'

Furious, he stormed out, running up the narrow stairs to shut himself into his bedroom. He threw himself down on the bed. The covers smelt musty, after a year of being unslept in. He turned over, and felt the package in his pocket. Pulling it out, he carefully peeled away the paper. Inside was a silver brooch, with a green jewelled serpent curled round it in an 'S' shape. There was also a piece of card, covered in Lucius' familiar handwriting.

Severus, in thanks for your loyal friendship and service. The clasp will never fail. It will increase the warmth of any cloak it fastens, and waterproof it. I hope you will find it useful. Yours, Lucius.

He turned it over in his hands, and saw something engraved on the back. Holding it up to the dim electric light he made out the words, 'Severus, a true Slytherin man, from your friend Lucius'.

He stared at the words for a long time, before hiding it in the deepest recess of his trunk.

*****

Lily was away for two weeks that summer on holiday with her family. Severus spent those weeks in his room, or sitting in the park, nose buried in his textbooks. He read far and wide, memorising lists of magical plants and their properties, reading potion recipes until he knew most off by heart. His father was working for once, although it did nothing to improve his mood. Severus and Eileen hardly dared move when he was home for fear of making a noise. 'Keep it down, some of us have to get up for work tomorrow,' he would say nastily, glowering at his wife and son as though it was their fault he had to earn a living.

Of course, Eileen was hopelessly unqualified for any Muggle job. Not only did she lack an education that a Muggle would understand, she couldn't really be relied on not to give herself away in anything other than superficial conversation. Tobias muttered resentfully about his 'freak of a wife', whom he accused of 'holding him back'. The concept fascinated Severus, who was sorely tempted to ask 'from what?' But of course he didn't. Tobias was not a man you talked back to.

Despite liking his own company, Severus liked Lily's even more, so he actually went and called for her the day after she got back. Her parents were polite to him, though he could tell they didn't really approve. Lily however was delighted to see him, and they headed out onto the moor, Severus having 'borrowed' a bike from a boy down the road who was away. It was a hot ride up the path, but Lily maintained a steady stream of enthusiastic chatter about her holiday.

When they finally reached the top of the hill, they found a vantage point and sprawled on the mossy ground. The whole town was spread out beneath them like a Lego village, the river winding through it like a fat brown ribbon. They spent a while pointing out the various features. 'There's the mill, and that street there - that one must be mine. No, you're not even looking in the right direction!'

Once they'd exhausted the town's limited supply of landmarks, they lay back and the conversation wandered. 'Tuney's got herself a boyfriend,' Lily told him. 'He's a bit older than her and from London. Mam and Dad in't pleased.'

'Ugh, who'd want to go out with Petunia?' He ducked Lily's swat with a grin. 'So, what's he like? Don't tell me he rides a motorbike and has lots of piercings?'

'No, nothing like that,' giggled Lily. 'He's quite boring actually. He's got lots of blond hair and a little moustache, and all he talks about is business. But Tuney's really crazy about him. She's started talking all posh, just like you.'

'I'm nothing like Petunia,' he protested, trying to tickle her.

Lily shrieked and jumped up, dancing away laughing. 'To listen to the pair of you, you'd think you were brother and sister! Maybe you've got more in common than you realise!' She squealed as he caught her and poured grass down her neck. 'Oh no, not 'grarse'!' she mocked.

They chased around for a few more minutes, until the heat got too much and they flopped back down. 'I've been getting the Daily Prophet,' said Lily. 'I wanted to keep up to date. There's some bad stuff happening, Sev.'

'The Prophet always exaggerates,' Severus replied, without even opening his eyes. 'You shouldn't let it worry you. It won't affect us. I've got a good question. If you had a choice between a wand that could never be defeated in a duel, or an invisibility cloak that could hide you from death, or a stone that brought back dead people, which would you choose?'

'What a weird question! What were the options again?'

He repeated them and added, 'It's from a fairy story, a wizard one. Mum used to read them to me when I was a kid. Till Dad found out and threw the book out.'

She pulled the sorry face she always did when his father came up in conversation. 'Well, the invisibility cloak would be cool - not to hide from death, but just to have fun with. But the stone that brought back dead people would be good too, I'd like to see my Granny again.'

'Really? I'd give a lot not to see Granny Snape again. She was an evil old baggage. If it was me, I'd go for the wand. Invisibility cloaks can be got elsewhere - they're really rare, but there are some about. The stone - pointless really - if I wanted to talk to dead people I'd find a portrait of them or they could stay as a ghost. But a wand - an undefeatable wand - that's something you couldn't get anywhere else.'

'But why would you want to go round fighting people? Or don't tell me - you'd use it on Potter.'

'Wouldn't matter then that there's four of them and one of me, would it?' He smiled at the thought of it. 'But you're right, an invisibility cloak would be fun too. What would you do if you had one for just a day?'

'Hmmm... I'd go in all the places that we can't go normally. I'd go in McGonagall's bedroom and see if she really has a tartan dressing gown like people say. And I'd go to Dumbledore's office because you made it sound really amazing. Then I'd go to the Forest and get really close to unicorns - they're scared of people but if they couldn't see me I might get close enough to touch one. And I'd stay out after hours and follow Filch around, knowing that he can't see me. Oh, and then I'd go to Hogsmeade, to see what it's like.'

He made a rather disparaging noise. 'Well, I'd use it to pull the most monumental of pranks on Potter and Black. Maybe I'd pretend to be one of Black's ancestors in a huff that he's a Gryffindunce - sorry! Gryffindor - and spook the hell out of him and Potter. I could put itching powder in all their clothes, and their beds. I'd read all their letters from home so I could use it against them. And I'd find out where that creepy Lupin goes when he's 'sick'. And I'd...'

'Blimey, is that thunder?' Lily interrupted. The sky did look suddenly much darker, with clouds rolling in so fast they could see the light fail before their eyes. 'We should get under some shelter.'

She headed off for the nearest tree, but Severus stopped her. 'Don't you know, never shelter under trees, they can get struck by lightning - especially up here where there's so much open space.' The first fat drops of rain struck them, and in seconds became a deluge. The thunder boomed around the moor. They exchanged wide eyed looks as the lightning illuminated them.

'Come on,' said Severus, grabbing the bikes.

'Where?' shouted Lily, over the noise of the thrumming rain.

'Don't know.' He pushed her bike at her. 'Come on, let's just... go!'

They cycled through the rain, wobbling and swerving as water coursed down their faces. They followed the path for a while until Lily stopped, coughing and spitting out water. 'Sev, wait! I can't see.'

He stopped and abandoned his bike. They faced each other across the path, their clothes hanging heavy with water, Lily's hair dulled to a dark auburn. They stared, and then Lily's lips twitched, and a moment later they were both laughing. There was an electricity in the air that seemed to infect them. Hysterical with laughter, they began to run across the soggy moor, hand in hand. The noise and drama of the storm freed them from inhibitions. Lily spun round, trying to catch raindrops on her tongue. Severus followed, less given to such giddy behaviour, but fascinated by the sparkling of a droplet caught in her eyelashes.

They were almost sorry when the rain stopped as suddenly as it began. Solemn and a little embarrassed, they trudged back to their bikes. Lily looked at the one Severus was using. 'Oh dear, that poor boy's bike...'

'He'll never know,' said Severus, not adding that he didn't care either way. He knew Lily didn't approve of his casually contemptuous attitude to Muggles. 'It'll dry off.'

As they cycled home, Severus reflected that he had four more weeks to go of time with Lily. He was wet, and cold, and very very happy. It might just be the best holiday of his life.

*****

Of course, summer slipped past, teasing in its brevity. Before long, Severus and Lily were crammed into the back of the Evans family car again. Lily's cat was in its basket between them, yowling mournfully. It was still dark outside, and the lights of the motorway blurred past. Severus kept darting guilty looks at Lily, making the most of the last of his time with her. Lily herself was quiet, bleary eyed and sad to be leaving her family.

As soon as they got on the train, Lily was spirited away by her friends, whose dirty looks at Severus made quite clear he wasn't wanted. He wandered down the carriages, sullen with disappointment, looking for somewhere he could sit. Eventually he came to a compartment containing the younger part of Lucius' gang. He peered in uncertainly, until Rosier caught his eye and motioned him inside. He slid the door open and sidled in.

'Hello, Severus. Good hols?' said Rosier, in the permanently bored voice of the pureblood elite.

'Ay- I mean, yes, it was great.' He squeezed himself into the carriage, next to Wilkes, who glanced up from his copy of Quidditch Quarterly momentarily to nod to Severus. 'How about you?'

'Oh, you know, spent most of it at Avery's place. Old Bodger was there, we had such japes, it was super. Then the folks dragged me to Transylvania for a week. Now back to old Hogwarts and boring old OWLS. Had to endure a half hour lecture from pater on the importance of study.' Rosier rolled his eyes eloquently.

'Where's Mulciber?' asked Severus, glancing around the compartment. Wilkes, Rosier, Mulciber and Avery were usually pretty much inseparable. But today there was no sign of Mulciber, and instead two small boys were sitting in the corner next to Rosier, eyeing Severus suspiciously.

'He got made a prefect,' said Avery, with a snort. 'So he's riding in their carriage, the dunderhead. First chance I get I'm jinxing his badge.'

One of the two small boys suddenly leaned forwards and stuck out a hand to Severus. There was something familiar about him, and Severus felt a sense of unease even before the boy said, 'Hello. I don't believe we've met. I'm Regulus, Regulus Black.'

'Severus Snape.' He shook the boy's hand, watching to see if the boy showed any sign of recognising his name. What stories would Sirius have told about him?

But the boy's face remained politely blank. Rosier elaborated, 'Severus is Malfoy's pal, they go way back. He knows more curses than the whole of the Huffleduffers and Gryffindunces put together. Aren't your parents diplomats or something?'

'Yeah,' lied Severus uneasily. Somehow Moran's assumption about his parents had become the accepted truth. 'They're in Outer Mongolia at the moment.'

'Fabbo,' said Rosier, without any interest. He indicated the boy sitting next to Regulus, who was as mousy as Regulus was dark. 'And Reg's little friend is Barty Crouch, you'll have heard of his father.'

'Of course,' he said drily, giving the boy's hand a perfunctory shake. Hardly a day passed without the Prophet including a comment from the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, usually something tough about the punishments that would be faced by dark wizards when the Aurors caught up with them.

'Can we drag you to duelling club this year, Snape?' asked Avery, tossing his magazine onto the table. 'Now Lucius isn't around to make you run errands?' There was an edge of contempt in his voice, which Severus duly noted.

'Aren't you afraid I'll beat you?' he asked, trying to sound casual and ignore the heat rising in his face. 'I know more curses than the rest of the school, remember.'

'I think I'll take the chance,' sneered Avery.

'You should come,' said Rosier, picking up the discarded magazine. 'We need more Slyths. Wonder what the new Defence teacher's going to be like? Suppose it's too much to hope it's someone decent.'

'You know what they say - the job is cursed. No one's kept it for more than a year for the last five years. They say the Dark Lord himself cursed it, because they won't teach proper dark arts at Hogwarts. Every teacher who takes the job ends up leaving in unfortunate circumstances.'

'They die?' asked Barty Crouch, overcoming his apparent shyness.

'Well - not yet - but I reckon it's only a matter of time. In fact, what say we place a little wager on it? I bet ten Galleons this year's teacher turns up his or her toes. Wilkes, you in?'

'Why not. Ten that it's not till after we've left.'

Rosier turned to Severus and hesitated for a minute before smiling patronisingly, and continuing to Avery, who also casually bet a sum of money that Severus could barely imagine owning. Regulus and Barty went halves on the fourth wager. Severus stuck his nose in a book, though really he was watching the five boys, full of resentment. They might tolerate his presence, but he would never be truly one of them.

He suddenly longed for Lucius. It was true the older boy had never treated him as an equal, but their shared experience meant there was a bond between them despite their different stations in life. At least, he'd thought there was. But he hadn't heard from Malfoy since they'd parted at King's Cross, and he had a feeling that now he'd outlived his usefulness, Malfoy would forget him. His scowl deepened, and he spent the rest of the journey in a moody silence.

*****

The duelling club turned out to be fun, and Severus proved good at it. His time spent fighting off Potter and Black had sharpened his reflexes, and his knowledge of curses, not the mention his own inventions, came in handy. He wasn't the best, unable to compete with the oldest students, but could hold his own at the level of Rosier and his friends.

Lily was sniffy about his new hobby and declined his pleas to join. 'I don't want to go round fighting. There's too much of that in the world as it is. As far as I can tell, it's mainly silly boys showing off to each other.'

'You should come though, it's important to be able to defend yourself. Especially nowadays.'

'I thought the Prophet always exaggerates,' she said, rather sharply.

'Yeah, and it does. But I was just thinking about those people in Birmingham last week.' They both went quiet as they thought about the crime that had shaken the wizarding world. The school had talked about little else for the past week. A Muggleborn wizard and his Muggle wife, along with their two small children, had been found murdered. The Prophet hadn't spared any gory details of the horrible way in which they'd died. Even the family cat had been found in pieces, nailed to the ceiling.

Equally sinister was the symbol that had been found in the sky above their house, a huge green skull with a snake protruding from the mouth. The Prophet had started referring to it as the 'Dark Mark'. 'Do you think the Death Eaters did it?' asked Lily.

'I don't know. Everyone's saying they did, but I'm not sure. It might have just been some nutter. The Death Eaters get blamed for everything at the moment. It wasn't that long ago that everyone thought they were great. I don't see how they can go from being OK to being mad murderers in just a year or so, or why they'd want to. They're a political party really, even if they're banned.'

'The Nazis were a political party once,' pointed out Lily.

'What I don't get, is why people think that blood purity and dark magic go together. You don't have to be pureblood to do dark magic, and you don't have to want to do dark magic to care about pureblood rights. These Death Eaters, one of their aims is overcoming death - defeating it - so why would they want to start killing people?'

'They're keen on overcoming death for some people,' she said quietly, 'not everyone. They'd like to get rid of Muggleborns. I read the Prophet too, Sev, you can't protect me from it.'

'I can protect you, and I will,' he said crossly. 'Anyway, you're safe at Hogwarts. Those people just got killed by some lunatic. The Aurors will find him soon, and throw him in Azkaban. And that will be the end of it.'

She looked sceptical, but said no more. He doodled in the margins of his textbook, a bad habit of his, with almost fierce intensity. 'I've thought of a name for myself,' he said suddenly, perhaps to ward off more talk about pureblood supremacists.

She raised an eyebrow. 'So what's 'Severus' then - a figment of my imagination?'

'No, I mean... a better name. A secret name, just for me and my friends.' He was starting to round his shoulders defensively.

'Severus, there's nothing wrong with your name as it is. Why do you have to keep changing who you are?' Seeing his pout, she softened a bit. 'OK, tell me what it is then. But if it's Lucius Malfoy Junior or something like that then I reserve the right to laugh.'

'Of course it's not Lucius Malfoy Junior,' he said huffily. He took a deep breath then announced, 'It's the Half-Blood Prince.'

She tried very hard not to laugh, but didn't quite succeed. 'The Half-Blood Prince!' she exclaimed. 'Oh I'm sorry Sev, I'm really sorry, I don't mean to laugh but...' she collapsed once more in giggles. 'You can't seriously mean to go round calling yourself that!'

'What's wrong with it? My mother's name is Prince, and I'm a half-blood. I am a half-blood Prince. In fact I'm the half-blood Prince - there's only one of me. It's a play on words. When I become a spellmaster, that's going to be my name. I'm not going to be known as Severus Snape when I become famous, that's for sure. When you're a famous wizard you have to have a special name. Merlin, Agrippina... all of those aren't their real names.'

'Dumbledore is just Dumbledore,' Lily reminded him.

'He's the exception that proves the rule,' he said smugly, using a phrase he'd picked up recently and found useful for settling arguments. 'Anyway, it's Hogsmeade weekend next week. Can we go together?' He gazed at her hopefully. They were now allowed to visit the village on designated weekends, but Lily usually went with her Gryffindor friends. Severus had gone alone the first time, and soon realised that having no money and no friends were a serious impediment to enjoying Hogsmeade. Ever since he'd been trying to persuade Lily to go with him.

'Oh Sev, I was going to go with Mary and Morgana and the others... don't look at me like that, it's hard for me. They start making plans, and I just sort of get carried along. Maybe we could meet up for a drink or something...' she trailed away guiltily.

'No, it's fine, I'm not spending any time with Snorgana and Hairy, thank you very much. I'll stay here and go to the library. I've just about persuaded Professor Finchbind to give me a Restricted Section pass for a day. Hogsmeade is lame anyway.' But his protruding lower lip betrayed his real feelings, and he felt a burning resentment towards the Gryffindor girls for the rest of the day.

In fact, over the course of that year, his resentment smouldered deeper and deeper. He hated having to share Lily, and without Lucius around to take up some of his free time, he found he felt his separation from her even more intensely. At mealtimes he would stare across the Hall towards the Gryffindor table, wishing he could make every member of that house vanish, leaving only Lily. At least with Potter and Black he got the chance to vent his feelings in their regular fights. With the girls, all he could do was stare after them with purest loathing.

'If looks could kill, Snape!' exclaimed Mulciber one day in June, sitting down next to him at the dinner table. Morgana and Mary had just exited the Hall, arm in arm with Lily and looking insufferably smug.

'Yeah, if only they could,' he muttered darkly. Seeing Mulciber's questioning look he added, 'A load of Gryffindunce mudbloods, walking round like they own the place.'

'Oh, yeah. Filth like that ought to be thrown out.' Mulciber nodded his agreement before turning his attention to his food.

In Potions the next morning Lily was looking pleased and excited. 'You'll never guess what! Morgana's invited me and Mary to stay with her in the summer for three whole weeks! She lives in a village that's seventy-five per cent wizard, and there's an area where it's safe to go flying. And there all sorts of magical creatures around, she's promised to show us real gnomes, and she reckons they get unicorns sometimes - we're going to camp out and see if we can see one.' She stopped, seeing the look on his face. 'What?' she asked, her cheeks colouring.

'Three whole weeks?' he repeated, trying not to sound as gutted as he felt. He'd been looking forward with every fibre of his being to spending another summer with Lily. The thought of it being instead a Lily-free desert left him feeling hollow inside.

'Oh Sev... I wish you could come too,' she said, biting her lip.

He turned away and continued making his potion, but he was so upset that he got the quantities wrong and the resulting brew was a catastrophe. Slughorn peered at it with consternation. 'Did you get out on the wrong side of bed today, Severus?' he enquired. 'Not sickening for something are you?' To Severus' alarm, Slughorn clamped a big hand over his forehead for a moment. 'Oh well, I'm afraid it will have to be just an Acceptable today. And perhaps you should run along and see Madam Pomfrey. You do feel a bit hot.'

Lily was full of anxiety at Severus' apparent 'illness' and insisted on accompanying him to the hospital wing, where a sceptical Madam Pomfrey gave him a dose of Professor Pillwell's Marvellous Elixir and told him to spend more time in the fresh air. But Severus had no intention of spending any time outside. His brain was working overtime - so much so that he did feel quite feverish. He had to find a way to keep Lily to himself.

He spent the next week carefully observing the Gryffindors, lurking behind bookshelves in the library, and pretending to drop things near them in the dining hall. Naturally furtive, he found it easy to go unnoticed. By the following weekend, he'd learned enough. He stole a few Knuts from an unsuspecting first year, and used it to purchase a bottle of distinctive violet ink. He spent hours painstakingly writing his letter, and even more on the charms to go with it.

Once all the pieces of his plan were in place, he took the finished letter to a nondescript school owl. 'Go the long way round,' he told it sternly, offering a dead mouse that he'd smuggled out of Transfiguration.

He got down to breakfast deliberately early the next morning in order to find a good vantage point. Fighting the urge to fidget and play with his cereal, he forced himself to remain calm and unruffled on the outside. He had to wait a long time, and was starting to worry that it hadn't worked, when a sudden burst of loud, sickly music filled the Hall. Every head turned towards the Gryffindor table, where Remus Lupin was staring horrorstruck at a letter that had risen in the air.

'My love for you is deep and true, my love is like the sea. So whichever girl you choose, make sure you choose me!' carolled the card. Severus disciplined himself not to smile. It was a masterful effort, even for him. The hours in the library had been worth it. Titters and giggles were circulating round the hall, but the card hadn't finished. 'To my darling Remus, from Morgana!' it trilled.

Morgana uttered a wail of astonishment and horror. Everyone in the hall was laughing openly now. Bright red and tearful, even from the Slytherin table Severus could hear her insisting, 'It wasn't me! I didn't do it!' An added bonus was the sight of a shamefaced Lupin fleeing the hall.

Now he waited, biding his time. The tearful protestations continued, the letter was examined, and finally Professor McGonagall intervened to remind them that classes were about to start. As soon as the little knot of Gryffindor girls began to get up, he followed, adjusting his walking speed so he fell in neatly behind them. He could still hear Morgana sniffing and declaring she couldn't think who would do such a mean thing. He raised his wand and pointed at Lily's bag. 'Diffindo!' he whispered, stepping back behind a suit of armour.

The bag split right across the middle, and a second later Lily's possessions were scattering across the floor. A jar of bright violet ink smashed and spread an incriminating puddle. Severus was particularly pleased with the Replacement Charm he'd used to get it in there. What with the careful groundwork he'd put in and a little gentle prompting, Lily would be quickly drawn to the conclusion that Potter had planned the whole thing as a funny 'prank' and a way at getting back at Lily for telling McGonagall about a trick he'd played on a first year. Of course, there wouldn't be quite enough 'evidence' for Lily to prove her innocence to her erstwhile friends, but he was confident he'd done enough to direct suspicion well away from himself.

Morgana saw the ink, and looked up at Lily, her face stiff with horror and betrayal. 'You! It was you! How could you?' she cried.

'Me? I didn't... that's not my ink... I don't know how it got there!' exclaimed Lily.

'Leave me alone,' sobbed Morgana, turning and running.

Mary waited just long enough to say to Lily, 'That was a horrible thing to do, Lily! Look how upset Morgana is! I suppose you think that's funny - well, it isn't!'

Peering around the breastplate, he watched Lily staring after her friends, her eyes filling with tears of disbelief. As she knelt to pick up her things with shaking hands, he saw her face, and the heartbroken expression pierced him. For a second he hated himself. Lily was too good, too pure, to experience such anguish. He turned away and went to Charms by a different route, telling himself that Lily would be fine. It was unpleasant, but necessary. After all, she had one friend who would never desert her, no matter what the circumstances. She would spend a happy summer with her truest ally, the Half-Blood Prince.