The Year of the Revolution II. The Discovery of Friendship

32. Confession

Ever since the meeting with Steed and Stevens and his subsequent meeting with Lauren, Sev was so relieved and excited that he felt like heaven had opened for him.

On Saturday, taking advantage of the fact that the snakes had gone out to Hogsmeade, he went to the Haven and dedicated himself to two tasks. He prepared a large quantity of sleeping potions to at least last until Easter, which was still a month and a half away, since he had found out from Lily that Remus barely had any left, and warned him again not to overdo it.

The second task was to review his Dark Arts books, which he hadn't touched for months. He brought a desk from one of the empty classrooms and dedicated himself to reviewing curses, because he could smell that since the little ones from the Guard were not going to be present, the others would want to take the opportunity to learn them.

Sunday arrived. Sev let the Half-Blood Guard leave the Great Hall before him, and he calculated how long it would take them to go down to the house to put on their cloaks before leaving in turn, so he passed them in the corridor that led from the entrance hall to the dungeons. There were Stevens, the sixth-year girl who was supposed to be his girlfriend, and Steed, who raised his eyebrows in greeting.

He readied himself. The rest of snakes of his year were in the Common Room, loitering, but they hadn't bothered him at all in a while, so they didn't even ask him where he was going when he said, "See you later," and left.

He went into the path, quite a bit. When he already was thinking, These ones have left without me. How strange... he heard Steed's voice behind him.

"Snape!"

He turned, the three of them were about fifteen paces from him. Oh... how careful, they waited for me Disillusioned to make sure that I came alone and they have their wands in hand. Of course, it is serious that I am on trial.

"Punctual as clockwork," Steed spoke friendly as they approached him.

Both boys held out their hands and introduced him to the girl, Deborah Fairbank, who did the same, seriously, her lips closed, studying him briefly without showing any emotion.

Ugh, just like Lauren warned me. I'm going to have to win her over too. She certainly doesn't give in to the boys' judgment, and they probably don't try to at all. They let her make her decisions, which means they're not prepotent at all, neither of them.

They divided into pairs to move at a good pace along the path. Fairbank and Stevens brought up the rear. Guarding our backs, and to keep me in sight, she has set conditions for them.

Sev walked next to Steed, who continued his questioning. "Tell me, Snape, how did you get involved with those ones being your friend a Muggle-born?"

In a more informal tone, but interested in investigating as much as possible. A very long question to answer and a good opportunity to win him over in private. Since we have more than half an hour to go, I'm going to follow Lily's recommendation and tell him everything. Not just my time at Hogwarts, but everything. He already showed me the other day that he is close and empathetic in the face of suffering, I will reduce the 'trial' time and he will intercede for me before Fairbank.

He began, paying attention to the path without looking at him, but feeling the gaze of the other on him with genuine interest. "You see... it's a long story. My mother, from a pure-blood family, fell in love and secretly married a Muggle, for which she was disowned by her family. At one time, she hid from my father that she was a witch. They went to live in a very humble neighborhood, although I suppose that at first they did quite well. My father worked in the textile industry and they spent more than ten years alone until I was born, I guess because my mother knew that when I started to show my magic the whole thing would blow up. So it was. I was just over two years old when I started."