Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Forty-One

The feast was utter torture. Unlike the leaving feast or dinner, when they could sit where they liked, the start of term feast was ordered in year groups, with the seventh years all sat together at the bottom of the table. The sorting was fine, with the boys playing their usual game of guess-the-house, and she joined in - in her head anyway. She won, like she normally did.

When the food started she loaded her plate - but used to the Princes portions she filled up quickly, and sat in silence. Mary made the mistake of taking pity on her: "Good summer?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off. "Yeah, did you have fun waltzing with all the other pricks?"

The comment came not from Sirius but Remus. Her gut twisted, and she saw some of the Hufflepuffs turn around in their seats to stare, and the sixth years next to her had their mouths open in delighted shock.

She raised her eyebrows and took a sip from her water goblet, but when she was done he was still waiting for an answer. "It was lovely thank you," she said, to both him and Mary, who had flushed pink. "It was nice to reconnect with my family after the last few years."

She'd hoped that would be enough for him, but oh, was she wrong. "Oh yeah? Did you join them on the muggle-hunting trips too?"

"Moony." The warning came from James, but was ignored by both.

"Well I suppose you'd know all about that wouldn't you, Moony?" It came out before she could think about it. She'd forgotten that there were people listening in, but a glance showed they were confused. She felt relief sweep through her, but the look of disgust on Remus's face only made her stomach coil tighter.

"Shut it, Snape," Sirius snapped, also glowering.

She really, really wanted to 'shut it'.

In fact, she just wanted to cry.

But by now they'd caused a small commotion, and if she stepped out of line, even slightly, it would be noticed.

"For God's sake, all of you stop it!" hissed Lily. "Dumbledore's watching."

They all turned to look at the top table, but he was deep in serious conversation with Professor McGonagall.

"Well, he was," Lily said, almost sheepishly. "Silvanna, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it."

All she said was, "Congratulations on making Head Girl." She had no doubt how much the badge meant to Lily, but still her words sounded sour, even to her. She looked to Marlene, but she was avoiding Silvanna's gaze.

The feast ended twenty painful minutes after that, and she went straight to bed; she'd unpack in the morning, before breakfast.

She didn't cry, worried they might hear her. But the second she got a quiet moment in the library, she burst into tears.

*****

The term was going fine. She wrote to the Princes every two weeks, brief letters about what she was studying, and they always replied criticising the curriculum and recommending books full of dark curses for her to read. Recommending was a poor word to use, it was closer to set reading, because she regularly received large packages from Flourish and Blotts alongside her clothes from Evelyn. Obligingly she read them, learning the counter curses too. She had no doubt they'd be useful to her.

They had a new Defence teacher too, Professor Arkwright, who it was fair to say took a lot of inspiration from the muggle hippie movement of the previous years. He preached abut peace for at least half an hour at the start of every lesson. We all get hurt by war, he would say, We should end it now.