The Marauders: Year One | #Wattys2016

A Chat with Severus Snape

A Chat with Severus Snape

It turned out that what Severus desired was a talk with Lily Evans. He hung 'round the end of the corridor opposite the portrait of the Fat Lady and watched until after James Potter had gone off to his detention with Professor McGonagall and stepped up to look at the large gilded frame that housed all the ruffles and silk that enveloped the Fat Lady's girth. "What's the Password?" The Fat Lady asked, suspiciously staring down at Severus Snape.

Severus didn't know it, obviously, so he backed away. The Fat Lady kept her eyes on him. "What are you up to, sneaking around without knowing the password?" She asked. "It's rather odd, what you're doing. Should tell..."

"Oh c'mon," smooth talked Severus, "Don't go telling on me. I'm not trying to get in for any bad reasons. I just need to talk to my friend, Lily Evans, perhaps you know her? Second year with the prettiest ginger hair you've ever seen...?" He raised his hand to indicate Lily's height.

The Fat Lady mused a moment, running her finger over her round chin, where Severus noticed a large, hairy mole. He cringed at the detail of the painting. Finally the Fat Lady shook her head, "Musn't tell!" A grin broke across her face, "You're a trespasser."

"I'm not a trespasser," he replied, "I'm still in the corridor, aren't I? I'm still in a common area!" He glowered at her. "If I wanted to get by, I could blast you open!" He added, holding up his wand.

At this, the Fat Lady cracked up - laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. "Oh ickle wittle second year, thinks he could blast through me, does he? Dumbledore's set protective spells on me that would keep you from even trying, little one."

Severus had a mind to try it. After the summer with Malfoy, he felt rather underestimated around Hogwarts. But Lucius had told him, too, that one of the keys to Dark Magic was to restrain oneself and to only utilize the power when it was necessary. "Think of it as every time you restrain yourself, all that anger you're suppressing is saved into a reservoir and that reservoir gets more and more and more full and the fuller it is, the more strong your power will be when you release it." That's what Malfoy had said. And it had certainly helped. Severus's reservoir was filling every time he swallowed back the urge to blast James Potter to dust. Not only that, but his spells had certainly been powerful that morning at breakfast. When James had been blasted back so hard he somersaulted over the table, Severus had never felt so vindicated in all his life. That had been one of the spells Lucius had taught him to defend himself with and he'd never cast it hard enough to send anyone falling backward quite as hard as that. Either Potter was weak - which Severus didn't doubt, actually - or his spell had come off quite strong. He liked to think it was a mix.

Suddenly the portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward, nearly hitting Severus, and he jumped back only just in time, and from within the hole behind it came a couple of first years - Ali Prewitt and another little girl, Natalie Spinnet. Ali saw Severus and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't know you were out here, I wouldn't have swung the portrait open so hard if I had... Did I hit you?"

"No," Severus replied, turning to face them.

Natalie's eyes widened when she saw Severus's green school tie. "You're a Slytherin," she said, pointing. "You aren't supposed to be lurking 'round our common room."

The Fat Lady grinned from her portrait, "So proud, so proud. It's like a protoge!"

Severus's eyes narrowed at the Fat Lady, then he looked back to Ali and Natalie, "Do you lot know Lily Evans? I need her and this one's giving me a hard time about waiting for her out here."