Little Miss Marauder

Chapter 8 - Is it really you?

Chapter 8 - Is it really you?

Severus was talking to Lily, the girl he had fell in love with two years ago, and helping her into the boat. As Lily safely got in she turned to look back to the dock and waved at another girl who was walking towards their boat. Her hair was covering her face so Severus could not see her features but he could tell by Lily's body language that she knew who this other girl was. Severus helped the girl into the boat just as he had done to Lily moments before. As she sat down the girl finally looked up and Severus was able to see her face.

"Severus Snape ... Is that you?"

Cassadee recognised the boy immediately after she looked at his face. "Potter?" She heard him speak her name for the first time in years, since the day of her 'incident'. That was when she stopped showing up at the meadow. She could not bare seeing that place again after all that happened to her there, plus James would not let his so called 'baby sister' out of his sight for longer than five minutes. Then it registered to Cassadee, the spite in the his voice and the hatred in his eyes.

Severus could not believe that his so called 'friend' was sitting there in front of him. He could not believe that she actually had the nerve to speak his name after what she had done, who she had become. He could never forgive this girl for what she had done to him, especially because now she was sitting just feet away, looking at him as though they were still as close as they used to be, still the same people they used to be. He was so disgusted with the expression on her face and the emotion in her eyes that he looked away and stared at Lily, the girl he was hopelessly in love with trying to ignore the other girl he thought he knew.

Lily was confused with the way that her two friends were looking at each other and voiced her confusion. "Do you two know each other?" Both of them looked at her and at the same time that Cassadee said "Yes" with a small smile on her face and happiness in her eyes, Severus spat out a spiteful "No" and glared at the black haired girl. This just confused Lily even more as she kept turning her head, looking at the hurt in Cassadee's eyes as she stared at Severus and the tension began to engulf the entire boat. Lily knew that she could become great friends with Cassadee but she also could already tell that to do this, she would not be able to become great friends with them together.

Cassadee looked at the boy who she thought she was still her friend. She reminisced about the promise they made to each other in the meadow where they met. She always thought that even after the time apart, if she ever saw him again, they would be able to be best friends like they were before. But looking into the eyes of the boy sitting in-front of her, she knew this was not the same Severus Snape that she knew all those years ago.

Severus felt no guilt as he looked at the pain on Cassadee's face. He was actually glad, she was feelin the pain and rejection he felt when she stopped showing up to meet him, without even an explanation. They both were from wizarding families so she could have even sent an owl but he had nothing. Nothing since he was 7 from this girl. He still went to the same meadow every weekend in hopes that one day she would turn up. It took him two years to realise that she would never come back to him. The day he had decided to give up was the day he had met Lily. Lily had been the one to bring Severus back from his swirling hatred for everything and everyone.

Lily was sitting and talking to Cassadee, trying to get to know her better, but Cassadee was paying next to no attention to Lily as she was looking at Severus with hurt swirling throughout her brown eyes. She couldn't believe this was how he was treating her. Granted he had no clue the reason but he had to have known her enough to think there was a reason as to why she never came back. "Severus... Please.... Talk to me." She begged, accidentally cutting Lily off. Severus looked back at Cassadee, the hate in his eyes had somehow seemed to grow.

The silence made Cassadee huff in defeat and look down at the dark water of the lake they had begun to cross. The boat was sailing extremely slowly, Cassadee wanted it to go so much faster so she could just run away from this tension. She could not face the fact that someone she thought she knew so well could hate her so much for something that was out of her control.

"I waited." A voice cut through the silence, forcing Cassadee out of her trance. She looked up to him. "Wh...What do you mean?" she managed to stutter out.

"Every damned weekend I went to the meadow and waited under the tree for you. Hoping that maybe you didn't hate me. I thought I did something wrong. But no. It was you who was wrong." His eyes began to water but Severus had to get this pent up anger out of his system. He had kept this in for too long, now he had a chance to get everything out. "You made me wait for so long. I finally gave up after two years. TWO YEARS I waited. You weren't even worth waiting a day for. You're just a monster who loves hurting people."

Those words really struck Cassadee. He couldn't know could he? Was all she could think to herself. No one but her family and that ... that... man knew about her. Tears leaked from her eyes without her realising as she remembered what had happened. She could not fathom how he knew about her. She whispered through her sobs something that shocked the other two and lead to a silence until the boats had docked at the other end of the lake.

Lily was glaring at Severus as Cassadee began to cry. "Sev. I'm sure whatever happened, happened for a reason. You can't just say that too her!" Lily was lecturing a shocked Severus, who could not believe the reaction he got. Those words must have really hurt her. Shocked he was, but yet he still did not feel guilty...

Lily was once again cut off by a soft voice coming through choked sobs. Both of the other students were taken back once they heard what the crying girl had replied. "Cassadee, you're not a monster just because you hurt Severus a little. Yes it was a bit cruel but it doesn't make you a monster. It was a mistake. It just means you're human." Lily attempted to console her newly found friend as they were getting closer and closer to shore. Lily had also sent a glare to Severus as she was talking. Not believing that the kind boy she had met could say something so harsh. "No. You don't understand. Nobody understands. I am a monster!"