Heredity vs. Solidarity (S. Snape)

Chapter Eight

“Are you stupid?!” Marcy’s emphasis on the last word made Selena’s eyes roll; no, she was not stupid.

She was in Ravenclaw.

“It’s the only way to get him to stop,” Selena sighed. “Besides, he actually appears to be quite honest, from what I can tell. Nothing is telling me otherwise, other than the fact that he’s a Slytherin.”

“Yeah, a Sly-ther-in!”

“Oh, shut up,” Selena grumbled. “Worst case scenario, if he’s truly a horrible person, then I just back off.”

“They’re conniving; he could give you some ultimatum, blackmail you –“

“I know how to handle myself,” Selena interjected, her stare hardening. “Just trust me on this.”

Marcy frowned, but nodded, saying nothing more on the subject as the two made their way through the corridors towards the Great Hall. 

“So, when does this study time begin?” Marcy pried, smirking faintly.

“Whenever he gives the ‘okay’,” Selena smiled.

“What, like a random thumbs up? Fireworks? Flares?” Marcy continued, giggling. “Sounds like he has this all planned out.”

“Ha, ha,” Selena replied, hinting heavily on the sarcasm. “No, he assumes that sometime during Potions class at some point this week he’ll inform me. There’s not much to it other than that.”

“You sound more excited about it than I assumed you would…”

“Well, I don’t know,” Selena shrugged. “I’m a little intrigued, I suppose… I mean, he may know more than I thought he did…”

“What do you mean…?”

“He defiled his Potions book,” Selena explained, hearing Marcy release a tiny gasp of surprise. “He scratched notes out and wrote his own in, and when we used his instructions… it came out perfectly. He’s also made some of his own spells…”

“Wow,” Marcy breathed out, impressed. “I didn’t know the little bugger had it in him.”

“Neither did I,” Selena chuckled. “Ah well, we’ll see, I suppose.”

When the two entered the Great Hall, the familiar sound of loud voices and excited chatter engulfed the room. The scent of mouth-watering roasts and steamed vegetables filled their noses, and the two sighed in contentment.

Making their way to the Ravenclaw table, Selena stole a glance at the Slytherin one at the opposite end, and almost instantly she locked eyes with Severus. His triumphant smirk made her quickly return to reality, where she sat down stiffly, and didn’t look back at his table for the entire lunch period.

Near the end of the lunch break, a familiar face seated himself in front of them, and his pleasant smile made Marcy’s voice falter as she attempted a simple, “H-hello.”

“Hey, Matthew,” Selena greeted, without a hesitancy in his name.

“Hey guys,” he responded, suddenly turning to his bag. Marcy kicked Selena’s ankle harshly, and while she sucked in a breath of air, Matthew pulled out his textbook. “I was wondering if you could answer a question?”

“Marcy can,” Selena replied, before her friend could utter another word. “She’s great at –“ Selena snuck in a glance of the book, “– Charms.”

“Sel –“ Marcy hissed, but was cut off by Selena kicking her ankle.

“That would be great,” Matthew grinned. “It’s actually about the properties of the Bubble-Head Charm. Do you think you can help?”