The Tale of Four Boys

Chapter 5- Secret Meetings

The Tale of Four Boys- Chapter 5

Secret Meetings

A/N: I know I said at the beginning that the O/Cs wouldn't be that big of a main component, but after consulting with many readers, I've decided they will be MAIN characters. I'm sorry if you don't like that, but I'm just doing what I think is best for the story I'm glad to have this story up and running again, I'm so sorry for the delay!

And with that….On with the story! Merry Christmas, everyone!

Anything you may recognize belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling.

Severus

The lesson continued without anyone noticing Severus' confusion. Why would a Gryffindor try to help him? It had to be a trap….or did it? Severus thought carefully about Mariah's proposal all throughout the class, and by the end of the lesson, he had made his decision. When they were finally dismissed after what seemed like an eternity to Severus, he passed by Mariah on his way out, caught her eye, and gave her an almost imperceptible nod. She smiled at him briefly before turning back to her conversation with her four new friends; James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius, laughing merrily at whatever ridiculous story they had been telling her. Snape already hated them, especially Black and Potter. It was just an instinct he had about them, something that told him the next 7 years of school with them were going to be difficult.

The rest of the classes of the day passed fairly quickly and without incident, except for the Pettigrew boy blowing up his cauldron in Potions, of course, but Severus didn't see how that affected him so he simply brushed it off, although he did feel a bit bad for the boy, it must have been horrible to be humiliated like that in front of all his classmates.

7 o'clock came before Severus knew it, and he carefully slipped out of the Slytherin Common Room after a quick chat with Sydney. She seemed alright, but Severus had been a bit rude to her as she had been making him late. Wand at the ready, Sirius approached the Fat Lady after following some Gryffindor 4th years. Mariah wasn't there yet, so Severus stood tense and alert at the entrance to the Common Room, awaiting her.

A few moments later, she stepped out. She had her wand as well, but it was held loosely by her side. "Severus! You're here! I have to admit, I wasn't sure if you would show up…" She gave him a friendly smile.

"You're late." Said Severus bluntly, but he regretted being so cold almost immediately as he watched her friendly expression waver, and realized at about the same time he was still gripping his wand for dear life. He stowed it in his robes. She was trying to help, after all…supposedly.

"Yes, I know." She replied, "I'm sorry, I lost track of time, I was talking to Lily in the dormitories and—"

"Lily?" questioned Severus, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Yes, Lily. She says hullo, by the way. She's upset that you guys are in different houses, you know."

Severus' heart leapt at those words; at least she hadn't forgotten him yet. "Tell her I said hullo as well, then. Um, shall we go to…wherever you're taking me?"

"Of course, follow me." She said with another smile, and headed off down the nearest staircase. She seemed to know precisely where she was going, which was strange considering it was only their first day.

Walking quickly, trying to keep up, Severus noticed this. "Mariah?"

Mariah slowed down a bit. "Yes?"

"How is it you know exactly where you're going? It's only our first day!"

Mariah laughed. "I didn't think about that. I've been here loads of times, you see, my grandfather is the old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and I used to stay here over the Christmas holidays with Brian and Charley."