Chapter Text
Sirius is pacing in his room nervously, racking his brain for a solution that does not involve his friends finding out SSS. He messed up and he knows it. Unfortunately he does not have much time and he is panicking so he is just imagining worst case scenarios at this point. He stops. Takes a deep breath. And lets it out. He has to focus. His Secret Mission needs him and if he has to blackmail or bribe his friends for his safety, then so be it.
Now, how will he solve this dilemma…
•••
Platform 9¾ is too loud, smelly and bright for Severus' fuzzy senses. The exceptionally uneventful summer has made him careless and now he is paying dearly for his mistake.
His father laid a hand on him for the first time this summer.
And boy did that hand hurt.
It was Severus’ fault, he knows. A whole summer without pain…he gained hope. Such an idiot he was. He should have known it would not last.
He does not have any tears left. All consuming numbness is all he feels. The throbbing pain from the bruises on his upper body, the dull ache in his head and the familiar hunger are messing with his mind. Severus stumbles towards the general direction of the train and has to stop to regain his balance. He needs time and to rest for at least a few hours alone. He cannot afford to go to Hogwarts like that…cannot risk the Marauders or Lily seeing this part of his life.
Colours are swimming before his eyes. He stumbles again. The floor is coming nearer and he briefly wonders if he is in some kind of shock or the strain has finally proved too much for his body to handle.
Two pale hands appear in his line of vision. Then he stops falling.
'Why would anyone bother?' is his first thought. Then a voice penetrates the fog around his mind and he tries pulling away with all his might, which is admittedly not that much.
"I’m sorry for having to do this, Severus, but I have no choice." Regret and sorrow fill the words, but all Severus can think about is the fear that grip his throat tightly and will not let go. He knows who that voice belongs to. He knows what is going to happen now.
He knows somewhere in the back of his mind that he should be angry, spitting insults and hexes, fighting a battle he knows he can never win.
But he is terrified.
There is nothing he can do to stop the hands from picking him up and carrying him to the steaming train. Nothing he can do when he is placed in a confined space, without hope of escaping, with the four people who loath him.
Severus is going to wish for death when the eight hour ride is over, he is sure.
•••
James stares as his best friend carries their supposed arch-nemesis bridal style in their compartment.
Said arch-nemesis is limp and looks even paler than usual, if that is possible. His hair is out of his face for once, revealing the deep bags under his eyes and the black eye left by a fist far larger than a child’s one. His eyes are scrunched up in the tiniest expression of distress and James wonders if it is from fear or pain. Probably both.
Sirius is looking back at him with a carefully guarded expression. James wants to laugh and cry at the same time. How have their lives come to this?
"He’s too light," says Sirius quietly, putting Severus Snape gently on the seat next to the window and sitting beside him.
James lets out a breathless chuckle. It is not a sound of mirth, but rather one of desperation and almost hysteria. He is about to say something when Remus mutters, "You have got to be kidding me."
Sirius looks at him with surprise and disbelief, but the tired blue eyes are locked on the unfocused black ones that do not fully comprehend what is happening around them.
It takes James five seconds to realise what is going on and three more to find his words. That apparently is enough time for Sirius to try and explain what he assumes is a huge inconvenience for his friends.
"Please listen, even for a minute, I can explain everything, I haven’t betrayed any—" he rushes out before James interrupts, "Sirius, we get it. We’re in the same boat as you, aren’t we, Remus?" The werewolf nods slowly. Sirius gapes.
"You guys…" he breathes out.
Peter, who has been watching the scene quietly with growing confusion, pipes up, "I’m sorry, why is Snape of all people here, exactly? I seem to be left out of whatever is going on and I’m not sure how to feel about that."
The three boys exchange glances. Remus is the one who speaks up, "You know how last year four different students were extremely close to death on three separate occasions? And how it was our fault, but we didn’t own up to it?" He sounds and looks more exhausted than he does at full moon. Peter nods. Remus continues, "And you remember how Dumbledore solved the issue without expelling us, right?"
"I don’t like where this is going," suddenly says Peter. His three friends look at him with gazes full of sorrow and guilt. Then they watch as the wary expression on Peter’s face morphs into one of grim amusement as he huffs a humourless laugh. "Dumbledore knew what he was doing, didn’t he?" he shakes his head.
"Look, I would help if I had the right, but this is your mission. I am taking care of mine and exceptionally well, if I do say so myself. So, I’ll just sit here and not get in your way, is this fine with you guys?"
The other three Marauders nod after a moment of hesitation and the atmosphere turns from uncertain and anxious to sharp and businesslike.
They have a victim of abuse to take care of.
Sirius gets out the medical supplies from his trunk. Remus summons his books and James starts casting. A parchment appears before him, words rapidly forming. His frown deepens as the scroll becomes longer and longer. Then it stops. James finishes reading. His face is paler than they have ever seen him, hands shaking and eyes filled with horror.
However, when Remus goes to grab it, James jerks it out of his reach and starts giving short orders to both of them.
While he reads Sirius conjures a bath tub and gently removes almost all of Severus’ clothing. Only the shorts remain and the exposed body tells a tale that none of them wants to know. The face was under a glamour of course, but the caster probably thought everything else would be hidden by the poor excuses of clothes the Slytherin wore.
The picture is not pretty, but the three are determined to erase what is possible and give Severus a chance to paint a new one himself.
The tub is filled with warm water and Sirius, who is used to doing the same for his brother and himself, gently scrubs the blood and grime from the Slytherin’s torso. He is careful not to irritate the already hurt skin.
After Sirius is done with the upper part of Severus’ body more or less, they drain and shrink the tub for later use. Then Sirius unshrinks a stretcher and the barely conscious boy is placed on it. James tells Remus one by one the broken bones the werewolf has to fix and a good one and a half hour later they can turn their attention to the minor bleeding and bruises covering the Slytherin’s slim body.
A lot of expensive balms and oils are used for the treatment, but four hours after the departure of the train from King’s Cross the three are finally satisfied for the moment. Severus still needs to be on potions and sufficient diet for a few months, but thanks to him being a potions prodigy and doing this for the past three years, the damage is a lot less extensive than it would have been.
The only potions they force down his throat are a Skele-Gro and a Dreamless Sleep. It is clear he has not been completely unconscious for the whole ordeal, but it was not possible to feed him potions when they did not know the extent of the damage.
And so, they are resting for a short while until the potions and balms do their job. Remus falls asleep with the request to wake him up after half an hour. Sirius cleans up everything and takes out a shampoo, a conditioner and leave-in conditioner.
This summer for the first time Sirius heard the concept of "nice pranking" and he is going to apply all the knowledge he acquired to prank Severus.
The boy would not know what hit him and would not be hurt in the process.
It is perfect.
James needs five seconds to realise what Sirius is thinking and the two get the same mischievous glint in their eyes. The planning commences.
Half an hour passes quickly and the Marauders sans Peter are ready for the second round. They do the shuffle with the bath tub, but this time they put a charm around Severus' body so it would not get wet. Only his head remains outside and Sirius applies the shampoo, gently rubbing it on the Slytherin’s scalp. It is something he can do without the others’ help so they get out their books and for awhile only the quiet melody Sirius hums is heard along with the noise of the train and the wind outside.
•••
Severus regains consciousness slowly, but does not dare move or open his eyes. Not knowing where he will end up sleeping is a daily part of his survival.
It is hard. He has never been in such position before, almost naked in warm water and…are those hands in his hair?
So yes, it is hard not to give himself away.
Severus focuses on everything he can smell, hear and feel. The hands in his hair are rubbing something in it and he has a suspicion it is shampoo. It smells like lavender and mint. Whoever they are, that are in the vicinity, are drinking tea, but the scents are so different and mixed up that he can only identify ginger, chamomile and lemon.
Someone above him is humming quietly. Severus suspects it is the owner of the hands.
This whole situation seems surreal. He tries to remember what happened after leaving Spinner’s End and his mad father.
Everything is fuzzy. Obviously. He was half dead after all with only the shards of the vials to remind him of the potions he had been storing. But he remembers his mother frantically shoving a Portkey in his hands, telling him to run and to not turn back. Then she Apparated to who knows where. The Portkey took him to King’s Cross and when he practically fell through the barrier…
The train. The voice. The hands.
Sirius Black carried him right into the lion’s den. And Severus did not fight. At all. He let himself be trapped with no hope of escaping.
Alright, so he is with the Marauders. Almost naked. In some sort of liquid. With shampoo in his hair.
Who knew what they are doing to him?
Severus knows he should be scared. And angry. And…hurt. He should be hurting. Where have all his broken bones gone? What about the bruises and the knife cuts? And his black eye and split lip? The blood that is supposed to drain from him drop by drop?
He is tired. So, so tired. And the water is so warm…the hands in his hair are nice. The scent in the air is nice. He is that comfortable probably for the first time in his life. What was he worrying about? The thoughts spiralled away and vanished.
He does not want to go to sleep though. Sleep is not nice.
However, Severus does not open his eyes.
Just focuses on the humming, the warmth and the scent of lavender in his hair.
Soon the hands change their movement. His hair is dipped in the water. Rinsing out the shampoo then. A twinge of disappointment tugs at his chest. Now the nice head massage will go away.
But instead of being rushed out of the water rudely, he hears the sound of uncapping and the hands return, this time working on his hair, rather than his scalp. A whiff of honey reaches his nose. Conditioner? Why do they bother?
This does not take long either. Soon enough his hair is dipped in water again and something is sprayed in it.
Next thing he knows he is dry, the hands pick him up gently and put him on a soft surface. One of them covers his eyes and a whisper replaces the humming.
"Are you awake?" the voice asks, sounding unsure. Severus nods. He does not feel like talking.
"Would you trust me to give you a potion? It’s only Dreamless Sleep and I will let you smell it so you can be sure."
Severus contemplates for awhile. Why would the owner of the nice voice and hands ask him that? He cannot very well fight in the state he is in, forcing whatever substance down his throat would not be much of a problem. Maybe it is because the voice is nice in everything it does. A few hours of rest sounds nice too. So he nods.
A pause, as if his answer was unexpected. Then a vial is put under his nose and he immediately recognises the smell. Perfectly brewed, with no added ingredients for longer shelf life, a Dreamless Sleep potion waits for his approval. Severus hesitates. He opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. A whispered "aguamenti" and the sound of water filing a cup, then the nice voice says, "It’s water," as a glass rim is pressed gently to his lips. He gulps slowly, letting the liquid smooth his scratchy throat.
"Are you going to go away if I go to sleep now?" His voice is weak, but understandable. He does not want to fall asleep only to find out it all had been a weirdly nice dream. But the nice voice soothes his worries, "No, we are going to be here when you wake up. If you want us we will stay. Would you like us to stay?" Is that even a question? Severus nods as vigorously as he can and the vial is tipped to let the Dreamless Sleep work its magic. He falls asleep.
•••
Sirius stares at the peaceful face on his lap. The face of the boy he bullied for two years. The same boy who just expressed utter trust in him, Sirius Black, the bully…He feels despicable.
"He liked it," a voice brings him back from the depths of his guilt. James is staring at Severus as if he is seeing him for the first time too.
Sirius nods, "He did. I’m not sure if he was truly aware what was going on…" he trails off, thinking of the things this implies.
Remus sighs, "There will be a lot of explaining to do." The others hum in agreement.
Then Sirius asks them for assistance with the last thing they have to do. Severus is put in some of the heir of the Blacks' clothes and wrapped in a thick blanket.
"Now can someone explain why he woke up hours before he should’ve?" pipes up Sirius after a brief silence.
"Because," startles the three of them Peter, "I can imagine him getting addicted and building up a tolerance to that potion. He may be a potions prodigy, but he’s still a kid living in an abusive household. Better to be addicted and function normally, than to be half asleep all the time and unable to defend yourself."
Staring. "Sometimes I still forget how sharp and to the point you really are," mutters James.
Peter smiles. "Freaking out people close to me is my hobby," he replies nonchalantly.
"So should we expect him to wake up an hour from now again?" inquires Remus worriedly. Peter nods, "And you better not give him anymore Dreamless Sleep now that we are fairly certain he has been overusing it."
The others agree and compatible silence engulfs the compartment.
An idea enters Sirius’ mind and he shares it with the others. After some plotting they come to an agreement and wait in silence again.
An hour passes quickly and Severus’ breathing pattern changes, nothing else indicating he is awake. The Slytherin is good, Sirius has to admit.
•••
Severus’ memory is fuzzy. Unfortunately, that does not mean he does not remember the beating, King’s Cross and Black (the Sirius Black of all people!) washing his hair.
The worst thing is he cannot think of any other way today could have gone. His presence in the station was a given. Hogwarts is his only escape from the beatings. Black taking him was inevitable if the Gryffindor had set his mind before that. And the first time he woke up…he was almost high. Who could have known his addiction to Dreamless Sleep would lead to so many problems!?
Someone is doing something with his hair. Again. What, was the one hour (probably more) not enough? What exactly have they done to him anyway?
He focuses on breathing. Every time he wakes up he analyses his surroundings, this is not any different. Only that his bullies are in the same room as him. And have probably done a thousand things to him so they can laugh later. He will survive. He always does.
The scents are not much different from before. The humming is not present. Silence surrounds him, but it is not empty. It is full, four other people exist in it. That is…different from anything he has ever experienced. Fingers do something with his hair. It does not seem deliberate. It feels like the person does not even think about it. Is that on purpose? Or is one of the Marauders really playing with greasy Snivellus’ hair? Alright, that last one sounds ridiculous even in his head.
The movement in his hair is nice though. It does not hurt. And he can almost forget who is it the hand belongs to. Why not enjoy it while if lasts? It is not as if they know he is awake.
A few minutes pass then a voice breaks the silence, "It’s 16:30, my turn." What does Potter mean by that?
It is quiet for a few moment, then a sigh comes from somewhere above, "Fiiiiine, you can have him. Just don’t wake him up."
"Yes, yes, I know," is the exasperated response and Severus hears shuffling. He barely hides his reaction when two hands slide under his knees and back and lift him bridal style.
James Potter is holding him bridal style. James Potter is holding him bridal style. James Potter is holding him, Severus Snape, bridal style!!!
The world must be ending.
"Look at him," Potter whispers excitedly after he sits down.
Lupin shushes him, "Yes, we know he’s cute and adorable and all the synonyms you’ve used that exist in the English dictionary, but he’s sleeping so gush over him quietly," then asks, "Sirius, it’s not like you to give up something you want so easily, are you planning something?"
"No, Remus, I knew I had no chance against you and James so there was no point in trying. If I kicked up a fuss I would’ve only woken Severus up and that is just unacceptable."
Silence. Then the hands around him shift and he is cuddled against James Potter’s chest.
He is pretty sure he is going into shock. But no, his heart is beating frantically, his mind reeling from the implications of what just happened. His hands are almost shaking, but he hides that well.
Or at least he thought so.
A moment later Potter is holding his hands, rubbing a thumb over his wrists.
"What are you doing?" hisses Lupin. "You’re gonna wake him up!"
"He’s under the effects of a potion, plus this might be the only time we would be able to do such things. He doesn’t trust us, doesn’t trust anyone at school except Evans and for a good reason, if I might add. But he is clearly extremely touch starved. He needs this. Even if it’s not something he wants, at least not from us."
"We know that potion doesn’t affect him nearly as strongly as it does other people, he could be awake for all we know," Lupin’s voice is tired now. Severus’ blood runs cold. If they discover he has been awake for who knows how long…
"Nah," pipes up Black, "if he was awake he would be screaming already, trying to hex us and all. He wouldn’t lay motionless like that in the hands of his supposed enemies."
Two hums of agreement and then the only thing preventing silence from descending is Potter’s heartbeat next to his ear.
It is odd. He really ought to be screaming and casting curses left and right. But…he is a Slytherin. He waits and calculates. It is the snake way.
And so he waits.
And if he relaxes just a tad bit into Potter’s warmth…well, the Gryffindor was right about the touch deprivation bit. No one is going to know anyway.
A few minutes later Severus Snape drifts off to sleep in James Potter’s arms.
•••
James is smiling softly at the boy in his embrace. He has always wanted a little brother and the way he cared for Severus’ wellbeing in the past year and a half can be described as nothing else. He was a big brother. And he liked it. Except for the guilt, that part was awful. And until Severus forgives him it will not go away, but he is fine with that. He deserves it.
"He’s sleeping again."
James’ head snaps to Peter.
"Don’t look at me like that. Severus is more tired than we can imagine and you’re warm and comfortable to sleep on. I think after the second semester last year, this summer and the horrible beating on the end of it he has gotten used to peace and quiet. And, of course, his father is way scarier than you could ever be." Through his explanation Peter does not lift his head once, seemingly distracted by the biography of some politician in his lap. James is not fooled. The sharp boy is probably going to get his hands on Severus’ father and—
"Wait, how did you know—" James interrupts his own thought process and then, once he realises what he was going to say, interrupts himself again. "Of course," he mutters. He should really stop forgetting how smart Peter actually is.
Sirius snorts. Then he asks, "So what now? We just dump him somewhere in the school while he’s still sleeping, pretend we don’t know anything, answer with vague half-truths and spend the rest of our days in a suffocating awkwardness?"
"Too dramatic, Sirius. Why don’t you try to, I don’t know, explain to him properly maybe? Just a thought? No need to heed my advice, of course, it’s not like he’s a Slytherin and will corner you in the possibly worst place and time to get his answers. ‘Cause, y’know, there is definitely not an alarming amount of paranoia beaten into him by literally everyone he has ever met. Absolutely not."
"You just can’t wait ‘till he’s awake, can you?" smirks Remus knowingly.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about," replies Peter nonchalantly, but he does not really try to hide his grin. After a moment he asks for silence so he can read in peace and they return to their quiet activities.
Three hours later Severus slowly blinks his eyes open. "Uh, h-hi?" James greets him with an uncertain smile. The Slytherin stares at him. James shoots a 'help me' look to his friends (read: Peter) but they ignore him, showing no empathy towards his embarrassing situation. He is about to panic when a voice grumbles, "Quiet, Potter. An’ be still. Wake me up ten minutes before we arrive." And James watches fascinated as Severus Snape snuggles in his chest and falls asleep again.
"He really is exhausted, huh?" whispers Remus. James nods absentmindedly. Severus Snape just fell asleep in his arms. Willingly. Completely unbothered. As if it is not unbelievable that the Marauders and Snape can be in an enclosed space coexisting without trying to hurt each other.
What has the world come to?
He does wake up Severus ten minutes before they arrive. The Slytherin yawns, stretches and demands a hairbrush, saying, "Since you were so gracious as to wash my hair, it would be unbecoming to not respect this decision." Remus blinks. Sirius stares before smirking and providing the required item. James gapes. Severus is behaving like all of this is normal. Sirius gave Severus his hairbrush. The burgundy hairbrush with the golden curved handle. The precious hairbrush that nobody, not even James is allowed to touch. And Severus is staring at it like it will bite his hand off.
James does a double take. Severus is…staring at the hairbrush as if it will…
"Alright. Out with it. What are you four idiots trying to accomplish?"
The change in atmosphere is instantaneous. One moment Severus is grumpy, sleepy and comfortable to demand stuff from them like a prince and the next his back is to the door of the compartment, his posture is defensive and he is eyeing them with sharp accusation.
Shock is etched on the Marauders’ faces. Well…except Peter. "There are less than nine minutes to make yourself presentable, do you truly wish to waste your time on asking useless questions?" His voice seems bored. James can tell it is fake. The rat is playing with the cat it looks like.
Severus relaxes. These sudden changes of behaviour are really starting to unnerve James.
"Knew it," the Slytherin smirks. "You were the brain all along weren’t you? Also the reason why these two aren’t still corrupted and dragging the werewolf down with them."
Peter mirrors his smirk, "Well, would you look at that. You’re even better at this than I thought. Now that that’s confirmed, would you please get ready?"
Severus snatches the hairbrush from Sirius and quickly, but gently, fixes his hair, after which with a few wand movements he changes his clothes without undressing.
"Come on, we don’t want to be the last at the feast, do we?" And with that and an eyebrow raise he is gone, leaving them in confused silence.
Three heads swivel to Peter, but he snorts and leaves much like Severus.
The three heads would have to wait, it seems.
•••
Sirius is restless. It has been an almost surreal week of uncertainty, weird glances from Lily and Peter’s odd absence. He is aways running off to who-knows-where taking the Marauder’s Map with him.
And Lily…he has not thought about it, but wouldn’t it have been frightening for her when Severus did not show up at the station then suddenly appearing in Hogwarts with no explanation as to how? Or…has Severus told her? About the eight hour weirder-than-heck ride? What does she know?
Sirius knows James is just as angsty as him. Unfortunately there is nothing they can do, every time they ask Peter what is going on he snorts and turns to whatever he has to do (or runs off to wherever). Lily avoids them like the plague, Severus is…well. Him and Lily always eat somewhere else, are always stuck like glue and no one knows where they are most of the time.
With the Map always with Peter they are deaf and blind.
Also, Lily is still a virgin according to girl-gossip, so there most likely is no sexual activity between Severus and her. Probably no romantic relationship either, because (again, according to girl-gossip) apparently he is not interested in one and Lily has a crush on some Gryffindor boy.
Remus is no help either. He says he does not care about any of their concerns as long as Peter, Lily and Severus are okay. Since they are, and clearly none of them wants to share what the secrecy is all about, then Remus is not going to be the one to poke his nose where it does not belong. If someone understands dangerous secrets it is him. Though they do briefly wonder how does Severus know Remus’ secret? Was his slip-up on the train intentional? It does not bother Remus that much, the Slytherin does not seem inclined to tell anyone and his treatment of the werewolf has been the same.
But Sirius and James are dying of curiosity! Aren’t friends supposed to share everything with each other? (Yes, James, when they are ready) Don’t Sirius and James have to look after Severus? (It’s the first week of school, Sirius, and he’s always with Lily. He’s fine, he probably just needs you to stop hovering over him like mother hens after what we did on the express) Isn’t it their duty to annoy their brother-from-another-mother? (James, Sirius, you forget that I am not playing around. If I decide you don’t have to know yet, then you don’t have to know yet. Now go do something productive)
And since they know Remus and Peter are right, they distract themselves with anything and everything.
Sirius wishes for things to finally explode, because the waiting is driving him crazy.
His wish comes true three horrible weeks later.
Sort of.
Alright, maybe not, but at least he is told when it will.
After another long Tuesday, James and Sirius return from an exhausting quidditch practice, both taking a shower and immediately crashing in their beds, asleep before their heads hit their pillows.
Peter, who is watching all of this discretely from where he is pretending he is reading on his bed, smirks. He knows Remus is finishing his homework in the library. Now, he decides, is the perfect time to strike.
He takes James’ invisibility cloak and unfolds the Map, whispering the password on autopilot.
Sev is in the kitchens with Lils, per usual at this time of day. It is evening and dinner has just finished, so they have four hours until curfew to do whatever the want. Usually they all are finished with their homework way before dinner so they spend the time reading, writing, knitting (for Lils), doing embroidery (for Sev) and crocheting (for himself). Sometimes Lils sings, sometimes Sev leads them through epic stories with flawlessly crafted characters and sometimes Peter plays them a song on his mandolin. On a few occasions the house elves taught them how to cook and bake. One time Sev allowed them in his personal lab (he led them there with covered eyes, they still have no idea where that place is, or how he got it) to brew a complicated potion.
Peter finds he enjoys the quiet companionship a bit more than the loud pranking plans and quidditch euphoria and he thinks Remus will too. When James and Sirius become too tiring.
Now Peter is focused on his mission. The idea came to his mind a few days ago and to his surprise Sev agreed, poorly hiding his eagerness.
For some reason he keeps forgetting how much his Slytherin friend is touch starved. He suspects it is because of last year.
He puts on the cloak and goes to his two quiet friends. Lils knows they have been plotting something, but they refused to tell her. They still have not told her what happened on the train, but she knows she will be told everything along with the rest of the marauders so she does not push.
Peter reaches the kitchens and sneaks behind Sev. He puts one hand over the other boy’s eyes and the other holds Sev’s wrists. "Guess who," he whispers and the startled Slytherin immediately relaxes, smirking and murmuring, "You little rat." Lils huffs. She loves watching them interact, she says it is comforting in a way. Apparently their verbal battles and outsmarting each other is a nice change from the roughhousing the other boys do.
Truth is, Sev cannot handle roughhousing, it gives him flashbacks and Peter does enough of that with the Marauders.
"It’s culmination time," he says dramatically, letting Sev drop everything before he pulls him under the cloak.
"I warn you, my curiosity is close to taking over, do everyone a favour and organise that big explanation soon. I don’t think me, or Potter and Black, can wait much longer," Lils says. Peter laughs quietly and promises, "It will be this or next week, don’t worry."
"Lils," Sev finally breathes out, "it’s an invisibility cloak. It’s the Invisibility Cloak." Then he starts geeking out, "Oh Merlin, I’m under the Invisibility Cloak, Lily! I’m under…Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, I can’t believe it! It’s one of the Deathly Hallows! It’s—"
"Yes, it’s the Cloak of Invisibility, yes, it’s in Hogwarts and yes, James has been sneaking around with it since year one. But we have a mission. I promise I will let you fanboy later," and with that the door closes after the two. Lily shakes her head.
•••
Severus tries to ignore the fact he is using a Deathly Hallow (the Invisibility Cloak!) and focuses on walking without stumbling or bumping into another student. He can feel Pete’s smugness beside him. 'Bastard', he thinks with no real heat.
The closer they get to their destination the more nervous he becomes.
Pete is the only one who has all the information. Lils does not know about the whole train issue, or this plan. Lils and Severus both do not know about any of the marauder secrets (Pete said there are three serious ones (Severus knows about Remus, but, well. They all pretend he does not)). Potter, Lupin and Black do not know anything about Severus and Lily (except his home situation and that they are best friends) and Pete’s relationship with them.
So Severus is nervous. He has to fully trust Pete that Potter is truly okay with what he is about to do. His friend told him that this is exactly the point, other than Severus’ obvious touch starvation.
They reach the portrait of the Fat Lady. Pete says the password. They step inside.
Severus is in the lion’s den and he is not turning back.
Pete leads him up the stairs, squeezing his hand in support.
"Remember," he reassures, "I am not forcing you to do this. If you don’t want to—"
"I’m fine," Severus snaps. Then apologises, ”Sorry. I’m just nervous, but I’ll handle it, I’m not chickening out now."
"Understandable," Pete nods and does not continue the conversation.
The door to the marauders’ dorm is ajar. Pete slides out from under the cloak and pushes it to see if there is anyone awake. Severus hears a short conversation, but cannot catch any words, then Lupin emerges and says quietly, "It’s okay, I think this will benefit both you and James. Come inside," beckoning him to enter. He whispers a "Thanks" and slides inside, pulling off the cloak the moment the door closes behind him. He does not want to do something to it accidentally.
Lupin watches him carefully for a few moments. Then he nods, seemingly finding what he was looking for, gesturing to Potter(James for this night)’s bed.
Severus slowly removes his robes until he stands only in his pyjamas in the centre of the room. His heart is thundering in his ears and a flush of embarrassment washes over his face.
James is sprawled over the sheets, a hand hanging from the bed and the blanket tangled around his body. His hair is everywhere, as always. Severus reaches to brush a strand off his face and hesitates. He cannot back out now. The Slytherin completes the motion and the moment he feels how warm the Gryffindor is, his eyes widen.
He is definitely not backing out now.
Slowly and gently, Severus untangles the blanket and climbs into the bed. James’ bed. He takes a few deep breaths, grateful that Pete and Lupin turned their backs to him and immersed themselves in their books the moment he approached James.
He turns the Gryffindor around. The larger boy is still sleeping. Severus lays down and wraps his arms and legs around James, successfully impersonating an octopus. James curls around him in his sleep. Severus presses himself to the big furnace of a boy. He melts.
It is cozy. It is warm. It is safe.
Severus sighs in contentment. His very bones relax.
It is perfect.
He falls asleep.
•••
James wakes up feeling well-rested and completely comfortable. The sun is not up yet. He blinks owlishly in the darkness, vision adapting to the scarce light coming through the window from the moon.
He tries turning around, but something is clinging to his upper body. It takes him a few seconds to wake up completely and realise it is a someone, not something and then a few more to realise it is Severus.
James freezes.
He is definitely not dreaming, as proven when he casts "tempus" twice and the time is consistent. He is not hallucinating either, he can feel Severus’ weight on him.
So James does the only sensible thing.
"Peter!" he whisper yells, hoping he will not have to levitate and drop a pillow on his friend to wake him up.
The rat animagus is immediately up, watching him sleepily. When his gaze focuses on Severus he does not look surprised, just notes it and then inquires, "Yeah?"
James stares at him speechless. "What do you mean 'Yeah'!? Can’t you see I’m stuck!?"
Peter yawns, "Yes, I can see you’re doing something Sirius would be very jealous of if someone hypothetically woke him up. Of course you can always avoid jealousy by calling it a group cuddle. Then all four of you can enjoy a tactile morning together while I have the showers all to myself."
James gapes at him. Then his head snaps downward as Severus shifts and tightens his grip. Peter suddenly glares, "Hug him back or I won’t talk to you for the rest of the week."
But his threat is pointless, because James has already brought his hands up to rub Severus’ back gently.
The Slytherin relaxes again and just then James notices how lax he really is.
"Wow," he breathes out, "I had forgotten how much like a kitten he is."
"Who?" a sleepy voice interjects and Remus emerges from his pile of blankets.
"Freakin’ wolf ears," mutters James.
"It’s Severus. He is cuddling with James," says Peter quickly. James throws him a dirty look and Remus lights up, climbing next to the two boys in seconds.
"Wait, Moony—" James starts, but Remus is already snuggled in his side, looking like he can, and will, stay there forever. Peter stands up. James’ eyes widen. The rat animagus lifts his wand. James shakes his head, mouthing, 'You can’t do this to me.' Peter’s gaze answers, 'Just watch me.'
"Aguamenti."
"What the bloody heck, mate!?" sputters Sirius, then stills completely when he takes in the sight in front of him.
And right when James thinks this cannot get any worse, Severus lifts his head to look at him with those sleepy dark eyes.
All of them freeze, including the Slytherin, who almost stands up, then aborts the movement. He searches James’ eyes and the Gryffindor lets him. Slowly Severus reclaims his octopus position and relaxes, all while staring in James’ soul. It kind of feels like a challenge and suddenly the Gryffindor is in familiar territory.
He smirks.
Before Severus can do anything, James places a kiss on his forehead.
Severus’ stare shifts into a squint.
"Oh, it’s on, James."
A wide grin spreads on James’ face, "Remember, you brought this on yourself, Severus."
Severus matches his grin, "You look awfully confident for someone who challenged a Slytherin."
"And you look awfully comfortable for a Slytherin who is cuddling with a Gryffindor," James retorts.
Severus only laughs.
"Do we want to know?" asks Remus tentatively.
"Sev just challenged Jay to a platonic comfort prank war," pipes up Peter with a smug face, "and I suspect now they are going to be sickeningly sweet with each other in private, while also maintaining the bully–loser personas in front of the school body."
"Platonic comfort prank war?"
"Sickeningly sweet?"
"Yeah, like sneaking into each other’s rooms at night for cuddles, making or buying food and stuff the other likes, pet names, you know. Normal stuff that couples do. Except they are both boys and James already has the 'big brother instincts'"—James tries to protest here, but Peter silences him—"and Sev has accepted all of us"—Severus lifts an eyebrow at the three gapes directed at him and looks pointedly to the cuddle pile he is a part of—"so there will be no romance or whatever, hence the 'platonic' part. Just outmatching each other at being wholesome."
There is understanding on Sirius’ face and amusement on Remus’.
"That is why you started with the first name basis," realises the dog animagus.
"Yes, Black, it is also why Pete is so smug about all this. His genius idea is turning out better than expected," Severus glares at the rat animagus playfully.
"But!" says Peter decisively, "That is a story for this Saturday, in the kitchens. Be there by ten and you’ll have your answers." And with this mysterious air the drama queen disappears in the bathroom.
"Dramatic bi—"
"Sirius!"
"What?"
"There is a child here!"
"…We’re in the same year…you know what, forget it," Severus tries, then realises his energy is better spent elsewhere and drops his head on James’ chest.
"Wow, he’s already got you figured out."
"Shut up, James," Remus grumbles.
"You know what?" asks Sirius challengingly. "You all are not fair."
Then he unceremoniously climbs into James’ bed and snuggles much like Remus, but on James’ other side.
"Prrfect," murmurs Severus so quietly that if he was not so close only Remus’ wolf ears would have caught it.
James kisses the top of his head. Lupin and Black both rub his back and he flushes in embarrassment, he did not mean to say that out loud. But it is cozy, warm and safe.
So he melts.
Later that day he is eating his breakfast hurriedly, thinking of all the things he needs to plan and do. The way he and James immediately knew what the other was thinking…should be concerning. He used the defiant look that always rubbed James the wrong way and James used the prank smirk that always put Severus on edge. And they knew.
It…is disconcerting in a way.
Severus is definitely not complaining.
Fake hatred prank war will be fun. Leading a fake hatred prank war while also leading a platonic comfort one will be exhilarating.
Severus has planning to do.
•••
Saturday comes.
Severus is nervous. James is eager. Sirius is impatient. Remus is wary. Lily is exasperated. All of them are curious.
And Peter is excited.
"Come onnn, Remus, hurry uppp," whines Sirius, for the first time having no trouble being awake at half past six in the morning.
"Shut your mouth and let me brush my teeth."
"But you’re so slowww."
"I wouldn’t be if you didn’t wake me up before my alarm at exactly six a. m. that I warned you about."
"Sirius, you’re aware Remus has a strict morning routine, don’t act as if you didn’t provoke him," says Peter who also has a morning routine, but wakes up at half past five instead of six because he needs his aesthetic morning. Or so James and Sirius theorise. They cannot understand for the life of them why would anyone do this to themselves every morning.
Peter leaves them to their devices and goes to the common room where he waits for Lily and the two go to the kitchens. Severus is already there, of course, drinking his tea and looking like he is going to be sick. Lily and Peter share one look and sit next to him on the green beanbag in front of the fireplace in a silent comfort.
"James will be here any minute, he was almost ready when I left, unlike the other two," murmurs Peter.
During the three nights before today Sev came to cuddle with James, who absolutely refused to give him to anyone else. He claimed it was the rules of the platonic prank war. That was met with loud protests from Sirius and vicious sulking from Remus. They did not give up though, instead opting to take turns to join Sev and James on the latter’s bed. Peter watched with amusement from afar. Sev was not complaining.
However, those happenings made it clear that at least during the PCPW only James gets to be Sev’s cuddle buddy. Also, Lils and Peter are not that touch prone so it is more convenient for everyone if they wait for James.
James enters a few moments later in all his sleepy glory, successfully silencing Lily’s question. He plops in the spot Peter just vacated, pulling Sev in his lap and tucking the Slytherin’s head under his chin. Sev does not seem at all surprised, or disgruntled from being manhandled. He is relaxed and lets James get comfortable before melting.
Then the Gryffindor looks around and startles.
Lily Evans is staring at him. He stares back. She looks at Severus. Then at him. Then at Severus again. She opens her mouth, but he beats her to it, "You were the friend Peter told us about!?"
She does not respond to that. Instead she asks Severus, "What are you doing!?"
"Explanations only after everyone has gathered," he says leisurely.
"This is not one of the big three, by the way," holds in his snicker Peter.
"What!?"
"Yeah, it’s one of Sev’s."
"…are the big three worse?"
"…define ‘worse’."
Lily plops down on a large pillow, resigned.
"Alright. I don’t think I can prepare myself for this more than I have already, so let’s just wait. Also, Fizzy, may I have my croissants please?"
A house elf pops up, nods her head, and squeaks, "Right away, Miss Evans."
A second later Lily has a plate with two croissants in her lap.
"Wait what?"
"Shut up, James, questions later."
Later comes after fifteen minutes with Sirius and Remus.
"You idiots really had no idea Pete was hanging out with us," says Lily sceptically when Sirius expressed loudly his confusion and Remus looked at her with a head tilt.
The three idiots shake their heads.
"Alright," interjects Peter, "time for explanations. Prepare as much as you can."
Remus and Sirius plop on the red beanbag. Lily sits up on her cushion.
Peter crosses his legs.
"Before we start, I want everyone to confirm that they are okay with revealing the secrets discussed beforehand. Remus, your sickness, us Marauders, the helping and the Map, Sirius, your family, Sev, your…everything and Lily…your part of his everything."
The hesitance is clear in Remus and Severus does not react with more than a hand wave, but the rest nod vigorously.
"Good. I am going to tell you all a story of five little boys and one girl, all so different and yet the same in their difference.
"Sirius Black was born to a family considered Dark the same year Severus Snape was born to a disowned pure-blooded witch from a family also considered Dark. The Blacks were wealthy, spoiled and arrogant and wanted Sirius to be those things too. The Snapes were poor, the witch having lost her status and wealth after marrying a muggle. The Blacks forced their ideas of a perfect son on Sirius with curses and hexes. The muggle was a drunkard and took his aggression out on his wife and son. Both boys didn’t know anything else until Sirius’ little brother was born and Severus met his first friend.
"Lily Evans was born to a family of muggles the same year Remus Lupin was born to a muggle woman and a wizard. Lily had a big sister, loving parents and no idea magic existed. Remus had knowledge of both the muggle and the wizarding world, loving parents and not that much money. Coincidentally, they were both born the same year as Sirius and Severus. Lily lived in the same small town as Severus. Remus’ father was an auror.
"Lily didn’t know what she was when her magic first appeared. Her parents gushed over it after they freaked out enough. Her big sister despised it. Lily found it fun, but didn’t want to push away the girls who thought her weird. Lily found out what she was when a shy, socially awkward and a little rude boy called her a witch in front of her sister. She thought he was insulting her. Her sister certainly expressed her opinion to be so. But he had said she had magic. And children are curious, drawn to the unknown. To her, a girl who had never known poverty and only wore nice clothes and ate three meals a day, the sad looking boy with weird clothes and possible information was more interesting than anything she had experienced in her mere nine years of existence.
"The two bonded quickly, the only kindred spirits in the small town. He explained to her what he knew, she showed him affection and care, unlike anything he had experienced. They lived in the same town, but their worlds were so far away, so different…much like James Potter’s and Sirius’ three years later.
"James Potter was everything the other four had ever wanted. A rich, handsome, well-liked, pure-blooded wizard with an awesome Light family at that. Sirius was immediately drawn to him when they met on the train to Hogwarts, as well as Remus. However, his arrogance pushed away Lily and Severus who had always been the outsiders and such behaviour was somewhat of a trigger for them.
"Going back to when all of them were four years old. Sirius had found out what it meant to love and be loved, his little brother was everything to him. He always took the worst of the pain so his brother wouldn’t have to. Sirius was ready to shield his little brother from everything, but he didn’t understand much, only that he had a duty to protect and that he couldn’t always do that. It hurt his little wounded soul."
At this Severus stands up. James’ protests are silenced when he goes to Sirius who seems to be near to disassociation.
Sirius is trying to stay present. He is grateful that Peter is going slowly, interrupting and intertwining his story with the rest so that he can follow without a crisis. He is grateful that Remus is holding him in a side hug. He is grateful they are in front of a fireplace, settled comfortable. But when his friend started talking about his brother…Sirius may be slipping a little. He is distantly aware of—
Warm weight settles in his lap and on his chest.
Sirius opens his eyes.
He looks down. The abyss stares back upside-down. Sirius’ gaze widen and shoots to James. His friend is looking at him with reluctant allowance. Sirius closes his eyes, this time in relief, and squeezes, burying his face in Severus’ hair.
'The expensive shampoo and conditioners are truly doing wonders,' he muses distractedly. 'And even if they didn’t, he was never that greasy to begin with. We were just douches.'
"Remus…was bitten by a werewolf," Peter continues.
Severus huffs, but continues his boneless existence in Sirius’ arms. Lily gasps.
Remus cringes, but then all of them look questioningly at Severus.
He shrugs, "It was pretty obvious, if you ask me. Figured it out in second year. Lily, don’t."
All heads turn to her. Her eyes are shining.
Remus is confused. He, of course, knows Lily and Severus are…not normal…on the best of days. But this…Lily looks like a child on Christmas. Severus has apparently known for quite a while, but Remus does not recall an instance where he even stared at him weirdly. What he does recall is Severus being invested into his situation until he suddenly stopped. Remus had thought James and Sirius had done something.
Apparently not.
"Lily…" warns Severus.
"I have so many questions," she breathes out.
"Not now, questions are for when the story is over," interjects Peter.
Lily whisper-yells for Fizzy and a moment later she is scribbling furiously in a notebook with a pencil.
Peter continues his story, "Remus’ father had angered Fenrir Greyback. The werewolf decided maiming the son would be more painful and so, Remus carried a heavy burden in secret.
"Until Hogwarts. A fairly wealthy muggle-born witch, a poor half-blood son of a muggle drunkard and a disowned pure-blood witch from a Dark family, an heir to a wealthy, powerful and Dark family who would do anything to not be like them, a half-blood secret werewolf and an arrogant heir to a wealthy, powerful and Light family. You can guess how their meeting went."
James and Sirius have the decency to look embarrassed. Lily is still writing and Severus has been officially boneless for quite some time.
"The following year one Peter Pettigrew, a boy with just enough"—they all have heard the phrase too often to not groan in exasperation, Peter uses it to describe himself every time someone asks, failing to mention that "just enough" is completed with "money", "parental love", "magic", "intelligence" and "space" and they all know what "just enough intelligence" means by his standards. He, of course, is aware of all this and smirks—"sees the unfavourable situation and decides he does not want to live in a world where the probably abused, extremely ambitious and vengeful Slytherin snaps while holding a grudge against practically the whole school, but more specifically against three of the boys in his own dorm, house and year. So he observes and sees what triggers them. It is, surprisingly, bullying," the cutting sarcasm reduces James and Sirius to fidgeting messes. Remus looks highly uncomfortable. Lily’s shoulders are shaking in a suppressed laughter.
Severus groans, "Black, stop moving. If you want to redeem yourself stay still."
That calms the other boy down and earns them another bewildered stare from Lily.
"Peter plays the bullied victim which earns him a place into a group of pre-teens who are convinced their mission is to teach the 'evil Slytherins' their place. He sabotages however he can the pranks the others pull when they are dangerous. He counters hexes, curses and jinxes stealthily. He studies, fakes incompetence, struggles with his wand, observes the teachers and has an overall exhausting and eventful first year.
"Summer vacation comes and goes, Peter writes his acquaintances, but refuses their invitations for a day out together. Second year starts.
"It’s a disaster. Sirius is in a bad place. His brother hates him, his family has unofficially declared him a traitor, the amount of pain he is in makes him want to hurt people. James is trying to help even though he has no idea where and how Sirius lives yet. Remus is just a satellite at this point. Peter holds out for a month. A month in which he discovers both Remus’ condition and Sirius’ family situation. That’s when he realises this is more than he can handle and asks…a friend…for help.
"Turns out to help he has to somehow turn their focus forcefully to helping instead of bullying. It is better if they also aren’t together all the time. Unsurprisingly, Peter cannot do it on his own. Time to go even higher in the hierarchy.
"The conversation with Dumbledore is the first time Peter drops his dumb persona mask. Not completely, of course, but enough that the Headmaster is aware that Peter would not be there if it wasn’t serious. They meet once a week for a month playing a dangerous game of information. Dumbledore finally agrees to help all involved, not just the Gryffindors.
"The plan he comes up with is absurd and complicated, which is exactly why they both think it will work. The rest of the semester passes in attempts at making the Marauders’ pranks extremely dangerous(which they already are, Peter just needs to direct them a bit). The first almost death surprisingly has nothing to do with Severus. It’s a Ravenclaw girl who can do nothing when two of the most influential people in the school put her life in danger. The second and the third do involve Severus, but the second is with an older Slytherin boy and the third is with another Ravenclaw girl. After every accident the Headmaster warns the self-proclaimed Marauders that they are one step closer to expulsion. At the end of the semester Dumbledore has every reason to expel them. Their desperation is visible. That’s when Dumbledore strikes.
"When they say they will do anything to stay, the Headmaster requires only one thing. To make it up to the victims without the victims finding out. The rules Dumbledore sets are simple, do not tell anyone who your Secret Mission is, do not let your SM, or anyone else find out about the deal and do not try to help your friends or find out who their SM is. These rules of course can be broken if the SM’s life is in danger and you don’t know what else to do. If even one of the rules are broken they are obligated to inform him as soon as possible. He tells them that they will have to learn twice as fast as their classmates, because they will have to prove they can take care of their SMs and that includes treating wounds (both magical and other), removing jinxes, hexes and curses, knowing the SMs’ schedule like the palm of their hands so they are never spotted and some advanced spells that will be necessary like the disillusionment charm, the shrinking charm, the feather-weight charm and a number of others.
"Before they can get to that, however, Dimbledore tells them there is something else he needs to talk to them about. Or rather, someone else. Peter reveals a lot. His plotting, his thought process and his utter bafflement at their brainless behaviour. Their anger at his deception quickly turns to shame when he chews them out and tears them to pieces with words in front of Dumbledore. They have nothing to say for themselves."
"Stop laughing," whispers Sirius in Severus' ear with a pout.
"No chance, this is music to my ears," the Slytherin huffs.
"One by one each Marauder then go to Dumbledore who gives them a piece of parchment with a name written on it. James, Sirius and Remus all pale when each of them read it later in the privacy of the bathroom. They all have to care for Severus Snape.
"Unfortunately for them they cannot back out, this is their last chance to finish their education and keep their wands. So they start plotting."
Sirius sighs, "You knew, didn’t you? It was part of the plan. All of us to take care of Severus?"
"Took you long enough," Peter rolls his eyes.
"At the end of the year they are starting to feel something unpleasant. The discovery of Remus’ secret seems almost irrelevant compared to the burden heaped upon their fragile arrogant shoulders. The whole second semester they have observed Severus, trying to figure out his schedule as instructed and stuff. However, they have tuned in more or less to his lifestyle and it’s…worrying. He flinches at small movements, noise and touch. He looks over his shoulder (at the beginning it drove them crazy, they could never follow him for long before he disappeared). He is hyper-aware of his surroundings. When he is in an enclosed space he stands in a place that allows him to see preferably the whole room. He moves almost completely silently.
"They know. They don’t admit it, even to themselves, but they know. It’s their fault.
"Summer vacation comes around and none of them can relax. The last few months all they did was learn advanced everything to care for Severus, ignore everyone else to care for Severus and well, care for Severus. Now Severus is gone, off to whatever strange muggle place he lives at and they don’t know what to do with themselves. There is too much time, too many thoughts and too little to do. Sirius’ home life is getting even worse. James is furiously trying to lie to himself. Remus is almost sick with guilt. They survive. Somehow.
"At the beginning of third year all three of them are determined to help even beyond what they promised. The three months of thinking really forced them to open their eyes. Also, James has figured out a way to help Remus with his violent transformations.
"While all this is transpiring, Severus and Lily are suspicious. The Marauders are still pranking, sure (Remus had the genius idea that maybe if they stopped behaving like normal questions might arise, so they continued pulling them on principle, but with no risk whatsoever), but Severus has been left alone. They don’t even look at him anymore. Severus doesn’t trust it, but after a whole semester of silence and another horrible summer he is starting to loosen up at school, his constant vigilance now at a lower level than last year. People leave him alone most of the time, only the name 'Snivellus' reminding him of the hatred practically the whole school hurls at him. The Marauders never use it.
"At the end of the first semester the Marauders have found out about Severus’ home life, have made a magical map that I will elaborate on in a minute and have reached an advanced stage of the animagi training—"
"What!?" Lily’s startled yell interrupts.
Severus has abruptly sat up, eyes wide as saucers.
"No," he whispers. The silence answers him. "Are you trying to tell me that you each have a secret, extremely illegal, animagus form with which you have pranced merrily on school grounds and in the Forbidden Forest with a freaking werewolf!?
Lily unfreezes from her shock, "How did Dumbledore arrange your schooling with the situation you’re in? How have we not heard howling if you were in the Forbidden Forest all this time? Where do you transform? How did—"
"Questions after I’m finished!" Peter’s quiet voice cuts through the noise like diamond through glass.
Both Severus and Lily nod mutely.
Peter continues, "I guess now is time to explain the Marauder’s Map." And he takes out the item out of his pocket.
It takes fifteen minutes to explain the short version of the making of the Map, for Lily to write all her questions down and for Severus to stop staring at it.
"This, along with the Cloak, explains so much," he mutters.
"Wait, you know about the Cloak?" asks James.
"You mean the ancient artefact that you use for petty pranks? Why yes, how did you think I was sneaking in your dorm the whole time?"
"You were sneaking in their dorms!? At night!?" shrieks Lily.
"How do you know it was at night?" narrows his eyes at her James.
"Continuing with the story!" successfully silences them Peter for the hundredth time. "They each used the Map for pranks, their SMs and who-knows-what-else. They are training to be animagi to help Remus, because he hurts himself every full moon and they can’t bear to watch him suffer like that. They are all idiots, of course, there is a reason becoming an animagus is considered a great accomplishment even when you’re way more experienced than three dumb boys in their third year of school. Fortunately, nothing catastrophic happens, mainly because of Remus and Peter’s constant hovering.
"The new year comes and Peter is done with all of them. The guilt is making them sloppy and self-deprecating and he finally snaps. He doesn’t yell, but the venom in his voice is more than enough. He tells them that none of this is about them. That whatever pity-party they want to throw isn’t going to help their SMs. That their SMs are the focus now and if the Marauders want to help, they will have to stop thinking about the past and focus on the future.
"The next semester Severus is really starting to relax. He doesn’t know why, of course. He has no idea that the three boys have made their research and have figured out he is touch starved. He has no clue that they have been sneaking into his room to cuddle for an hour or so,"—Severus laughs silently in exasperation and murmurs, "you idiots"—"successfully beginning the recovery from the touch starvation long term. Peter is, of course, the only reason they don’t catch each other. The end of the school year finds James, Remus and Sirius feeling not-reluctant-anymore brotherly affection. They have already kept Remus company five times along with Peter, they are way above their year level in knowledge and skill and they still have no idea that their SM is the same person. Sirius runs away from home. He cannot bear it anymore, or the guilt of leaving Severus in his own personal nightmare. The Gryffindor lives secretly near the Snapes, protecting the Slytherin and his mother every time his sperm donor tries something. Severus has the first peaceful summer in years. In the last week before school starts Sirius has to get the most essential things from his former home that he needs when he returns to Hogwarts. He also needs to buy some new stuff from Diagon Alley.
"In that one week the muggle takes out his pent up frustration on Severus and his mother, who finally realises they cannot live with that vile excuse of a human being anymore and sends Severus to platform nine and three quarters via portkey. She then apparates away to dig up some old hidden place from her childhood where she and Severus can live in peace.
"Severus is in a bad shape when Sirius finds him and…" Peter tells Lily about the ride on the Hogwarts express while the other four are in various stages of turning into ripe tomatoes. The girl is delighted.
"Wait, you knew I was awake?" exclaims Severus when Peter reaches that part. The Marauders all smirk. Lily laughs. The Slytherin’s eyes widen in horror, cheeks getting even more red than before if that is possible. "And you did the…the thing…with the 'taking turns to cuddle me' on purpose?" he very much does not squeak. They nod. He shifts around and hides his face in Sirius' chest.
"You guys are the worst," he mutters when he can finally use his voice. Sirius squeezes him tight with a silent laugh.
Peter waits for him to be over his embarrassment and sat with his back to Sirius again before he continues, "After that Peter starts hanging out with Lily and Severus and they quickly become more than acquaintances. He apologises, of course, for not dealing with the Marauder problem sooner. The two forgive him and the topic is not brought up again. The silent hours spent in companionship and doing whatever they like are very welcome to Peter after hanging out with a bunch of noisy and anxious pranksters."
A couple of offended "heyyy"s ring out and Remus stares dreamily into the distance, "Oh, such stories we have heard only in legends, but alas, this is too good to be true."
Peter snickers, "Yes, Peter recons Remus would love to join them in some of their afternoon activities in the kitchens or the library. He is the only one who knows the way their six fates have unfolded. So, he makes a plan and when the time comes, he asks Severus if he would like to have the cuddles he so enjoyed on the express. The Slytherin, of course, agrees. And so, on an unassuming Tuesday, after a tiring quidditch practice, Peter uses Sirius and James’ exhaustion to sneak Severus into their dorm room by borrowing (for the thousandth time) the Marauder’s Map and the Cloak of Invisibility. The Slytherin snuggles into James and falls asleep almost immediately, unaware that his body is already used to the Gryffindor cuddles."—Lily’s eyes are shining—"The morning after that Peter promises that the big explanation will be taking place on Saturday. The next few nights Severus doesn’t sleep in the Slytherin dorms and a lot of apologies go his way. He grows annoyed pretty quickly and tells the Marauders that if they apologise one more time he’s going to hex them all. So, here we are, after a surprisingly few interruptions. Time for questions. Ladies first," he turns to the girl.
"How did you know about Severus and I? How were you so mature even back then? Why did Dumbledore let a werewolf here (no offence)? Why did you decide it was a good idea to learn how to be animagi without supervision? Why did you have a girl afternoon with Sev on the train despite all the—"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down! Do you want just to ask stuff or do you want them actually answered?" raised his hands Peter in a "hold up" gesture.
Lily blushes in embarrassment, halting her bombarding words. She takes a deep breath and starts deliberately slow, "How do you know all this? About our families, our thoughts and desires throughout our childhoods?"
Peter smiles sadly, "When you grow up with parents like mine (protective, nice and extremely boring) and only books for entertainment you start fantasising too much. It becomes a small issue when you don’t have friends and live in the countryside. There is no real school to occupy your time (your parents insist on homeschooling you, but they only teach you math, how to read and refuse to teach you how to write until you’re eight). It becomes a real problem when you grow up a little and realise the only way to grasp that excitement, that adventure that you’ve only read about, is to watch grown-ups interact and react. It’s the only thing you have when you’ve ate up all the books available and cannot write yet. You become observant. Quiet. Calculative. Things only a number of children are and things that don’t really fit in a child’s world. Then you discover you have magic. You also discover you should have known because apparently your parents knew too. It spirals from there after everything you’ve read. The excitement is finally in your life, something yours to have, something that is better kept secret. You have power. You have potential. You have countless possibilities. And since your parents don’t approve, too scared of being different and drawing any kind of attention to themselves, you put your observations to use and strike a deal with them. You won’t be demonstrating magic in their house, or in front of anyone, as long as they provide you with any information you desire. So they do. And you learn. You learn about normal people stuff (that you now know is called "muggle"), science, psychology, history, geography, economics, art, everything you can get your hands on in a library in London. You also learn about magic, regular magic, wandless magic, mind magic, soul magic, Dark magic, Light magic, all kinds of magic. You learn about history of magic, magical creatures, laws of magic and laws of the magical society. You learn of the prejudice, the snobbism. You learn that people are all the same, no matter what fantastic world you give them.
"After learning all the basics, you start your training. Accidental magic is a nuisance and wandless magic is hard. You manage. Mind magic is the worst. Physical training is the easiest one, despite the fat body you have in the beginning." The wizard-raised look at him in confusion, but Lily, Severus and Remus nod in agreement and admiration. James and Sirius blink.
"What do you need physical training for?" asks the former.
"Yeah, you have magic," adds the latter.
Peter smirks and suddenly Severus jumps from Sirius’ lap and skips to James. He trips, falling on the Gryffindor, but just a second later he is three steps away. The two boys seem so lost that Peter snickers.
Two gasps echo in the room when the Slytherin takes two familiar wands out of his sleeve.
Sirius immediately starts rummaging through his clothes. James just gapes.
"My wand!" starts wailing Sirius when he does not find it in his pockets, sleeves, boots and even hair. "My beautiful wand! It’s gone!"
"H-How? It was in the holster?? Was that wandless magic???" James’ voice gets higher with each sentence, clearly trying not to freak out, but failing miserably.
"Whoa," breathes out Remus, "you know how to pickpocket? That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to learn, but…well, it wasn’t exactly my priority, just like arts and crafts and other stuff."
"Yeah he knows how to pickpocket, everyone from our town do. Even the more wealthy ones. It’s just necessity," answers Lily and Remus laughs, "That’s mine!"
She laughs with him, "As long as I can take it it’s not. Finders keepers! That’s the rule where we live." Then she gives him back the chocolate she took from his pocket.
"There are countless ways to lose your wand, especially in a battle. Right now the only protection you have is your clumsy strength you’ve gained from quidditch. I can easily incapacitate you without magic, or tools, in at least three different ways. If I have just a simple pen, I can do it in twenty more," says Peter in as-a-matter-of-fact tone. Both wizard-raised look horrified and disbelieving.
Sirius’ pride apparently is bigger than his self-preservation instincts, because he says, "But you can’t even push me off balance, there is no way your strength—" and he is on the ground with his hand twisted behind his back.
"There is no need for me to be that strong," informs him Peter from his position on Sirius’ back. "Of course this doesn’t cause you pain at all, but you know as well as I do that if you move it will. It’s one of the few relatively harmless things I can do, the bigger part of my training consists of painful twists and jabs at your pressure points. It works on everyone, no matter age, size, weight, experience, or magic." Peter releases him.
"We in the muggle world don’t have fancy sticks to shoot lightning from, we make do with our incredible bodies and minds," says Severus and gives them their wands back.
"Are we just going to ignore the fact that Severus just took our wands without us noticing?" exclaims James.
"How is that more important than Peter literally being able to incapacitate anyone he wants without breaking a sweat?" screeches Sirius back at him.
"This may take even longer than expected," mutters Peter to himself.
And so, Severus, Peter and Lily educate James and Sirius on how to muggle with the help of Remus who translates to wizard when needed. They go through various topics like pickpocketing (the pranking potential!!! James! What?), martial arts (terrifying. I wanna learn it. Sirius! What?), lock-picking (can the tools needed be made with the technique they use for wands? Yeah, when a simple "alohomora" can’t do the job… Only you two would want lock-picking wands), technology (electricity? Guns? What is wrong with you!? Are you telling me wands are not the same, if not worse? And they are allowing eleven year olds to own those and educate them on how to use them) and a lot of others. (an ink-proof, auto-filled, sturdy and small quill that you can carry around without the fear of breaking? How did you call it? A pen?, White, cut, and bonded parchment with lines printed on it? You call it paper and notebooks?, You can revive people after their heart has stopped!?, You have tens upon thousands of sports??? And instruments??? And potions that don’t require magic to heal???)
When they reach the topic of religion and philosophy, Peter draws the line.
"We were talking about my self-taught skills, we can talk muggles after we’re done with our own story. Now, if you were me, you would’ve been a child too mature and arrogant for your age. A child too interested in other people and too good at gathering information. That is how I know, Lils, I observe and I figure things out."
"Like Sherlock H—"
"Not like Sherlock Holmes. He is a sociopath. Also, I need way more time and use different clues. Body language, behaviour towards people above and beneath you in the social hierarchy, loudness, tone and dynamics of voice and speech. I can’t analyse outwardly appearance, or cigarettes and shoe dust except the most obvious things. Changes over time are my specialty. So, no, not like Sherlock."
"Who?" asks James.
"Muggle talk," waves him off Peter.
Sirius and James nod, scribbling it dutifully on the notebooks with the other things they wrote down when the muggle talk got too much and they had to remember too many questions.
"How did your parents let you come to Hogwarts?" asks Severus.
Peter snorts, "Didn’t leave them any choice, it was either let me go, or watch as I flood the kitchen or set things on fire with my accidental magic. They couldn’t know that I was already training it wandlessly and assumed that I was a normal wizarding child."
"Are your parents wizards?" Lily asks.
"Yes, both muggle-borns. Their magic is weak, because they haven’t trained it at all and almost never use it."
James frowns, "Wait, if you trained from before Hogwarts, how were you so bad in class?"
"Yeah…about that. Turns out that once you’re used to wandless magic it’s hard to learn to use a wand. That’s why I struggled. It’s like walking barefoot your whole life and suddenly they want you to know how to walk in high heels, but the other kids can’t walk at all, so high heels is all they know."
"Where does Sirius live now?" asks Severus.
"With me!" informs him James excitedly. "If you don’t wanna live with your mother for any reason you can come too. My parents say it saddens them to see the manor so empty." Severus stares at him. "Only if you want, of course," adds the Gryffindor quickly, starting to regret his thoughtless words.
"I’d love to have a second bro who doesn’t hate my guts," butts in Sirius.
"Thank you. Both of you," whispers Severus. James smiles in relief.
"No problem,"
"Of course,"
The two boys answer at the same time.
"May I ask about your werewolf issue now?" asks Lily practically jumping in her seat.
"Alright…" says Remus warily.
The rest of the day goes by and the six teens have become way closer than before. The questions about the Marauder Saga (as James dubs it after proclaiming the Marauders are now six wether Severus and Lily like it or not. Then he backtracks, remembering why they would not want to be a part of their little group, and asks if they accept. They say yes, on the condition of being taught the animagus transformation. Remus says it is practically a requirement and it is settled) are all answered and James and Sirius’ muggle knowledge is significantly bigger.
The last thing they talk about is their images in front of the school. They decide on the biggest prank in history.
•••
"Well," chuckles Dumbledore when they tell him their plan, "when you six were divided you were terrifying. Now that you’ve joined ranks I believe the wizarding world will be turned on its head when you are through with it. I would certainly love to watch that happen. Here are a few things an old boring guy like me can offer…"
They listen and they talk. The Headmaster is the first adult they have trusted. Soon there will be more.
•••
"I cannot believe how irresponsible you four are!" yells Minerva McGonagall one December night. The boys and the girl shuffle on their feet in her office. "I suppose I could have expected it from you three, but you, Ms Evans? The student I give for example, prancing about with a bunch of immature boys after curfew, stealing books from the Restricted Section and doing something unbelievably dangerous with no supervision whatsoever! I am extremely disappointed in all of you! Detentions for three months, twice a week and an explanation what exactly were you thinking, as well as report on your progress. I want to know exactly how strict my measures will have to be when I put you in supervision."
To her surprise and mild annoyance, Mr Potter looks at the other three and says, "We don’t have a choice guys. Not anymore."
To her even greater surprise, Mr Pettigrew straightens up from his frankly pathetic display of regret and tears, face suddenly calm and tired. He sighs, "True. So let’s ask if we can just tell her. It’s not like she won’t figure it out soon enough. Also, I would love to spoil Dumbledore’s fun, but you didn’t hear that from me."
"She’s watching though, how’re you gonna ask?" inquires Ms Evans.
"I have my ways, not a word until I’m back," mutters Mr Pettigrew and the next thing she knows a rat disappears under her door. Minerva gasps.
"What is going on?" she demands, utterly baffled. Ms Evans makes a sign with her hands that clearly says, 'Our mouths are closed.' Then she points to the place where Mr Pettigrew disappeared and shrugs.
"Since when is Mr Pettigrew’s authority higher than mine?" she exclaims. In her mind she is wondering since when does Mr Pettigrew have an authority at all. It does not make any sense. From what she has seen he is an untalented, clumsy coward. Always ready to follow, always agreeing, always letting others walk over him.
The boy is standing in front of her desk and she gasps again.
"You stop that right now, young man!" Minerva yells.
"Since I proved my ability to lead, help, and shred to bits and pieces two arrogant rich entitled brats only with words," he says calmly.
"What—"
"You asked since when I have higher authority than you. I answered."
She sputters from the sheer insolence of the boy. How dare he interrupt her and speak to her like that!
"He said yes," continues Mr Pettigrew nonsensically.
The other three sigh in relief for some reason.
"Professor, we have a couple confessions to make. One, two, three."
A stag, a dog and a rat appear in the places of Mr Potter, Mr Black and Mr Pettigrew.
Minerva grips the arms of her chair.
•••
"Professor?" a shy voice comes from the doorway a few minutes later and a dark haired boy comes in, fidgeting nervously. Minerva sips her herbal tea, breathing deeply.
"Mr Snape—"
"Just Severus. Mr Snape is my sperm donor," she is interrupted for the second time that night.
She takes a long sip of her tea before agreeing, "Severus. Please take a seat. I understand if you feel unease in the presence of those three, but I—Is there something wrong?" Minerva interrupts herself when he looks at her with the most incredulous expression she has seen.
"Unease?" he asks.
"Yes, unease, Severus," she says exasperatedly, "considering your…rocky…relationship with the Marauders, as they so proudly declare themselves. Your rivalry is famous throughout the whole school."
Now he is pinning her with an unimpressed stare. She does not remember the last time a student made her so nervous, let alone two.
"Of course you would call it that," mutters Severus and moves towards the chair which Mr Potter occupies. Minerva is ready to intervene when the Slytherin climbs in the Gryffindor’s lap completely unbothered. Her eyes widen and she absolutely does not screech, only yells, "Severus Snape you cease that scandalous behaviour right now!"
She thinks she does not even have to say it, that Mr Potter will shove Severus off himself with the disgust he has shown over the years towards the other boy.
Instead he wraps his hands around Severus’ chest and waist, tucks his head under his chin and glares at her.
She is staring. She cannot help it. Mr Pettigrew looks cold. He is glaring at her with a look that does not quite fit his young face. Mr Black is glaring at her too and she does not understand. Ms Evan puts a hand on Severus’, looking sympathetic.
Severus himself has closed his eyes.
The tension in the room is palpable.
"I would appreciate it if you don’t speak to my friend like that, Professor," says Mr Pettigrew lowly.
"Please don’t. She doesn’t know, it’s fine," murmurs Severus.
"Explain," Minerva snaps.
They do.
•••
"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!"
"Oh, dear," murmurs the Headmaster.
A fury enters his office with a bang and billowing robes.
"Third and fourth years! Animagi! In the Forbidden Forest! With a werewolf!" Her eyes are blazing and her wand is sparking with every twitch of her hand.
"Now, Minerva—"
"They are children, Albus! In charge of other children!? Having clearance on breaking every rule this school has ever had!?!? Have you finally gone senile!?"
Albus Dumbledore watches the transfiguration teacher calmly while she unleashes her pent up frustration. He will be having words with Mr Pettigrew later, but for now he listens to Minerva's shame induced rage rant and keeps his face neutral.
Once she is done, he offers a cup of tea wordlessly. She accepts it with a glare and sits gracefully in one of the armchairs in front of his desk.
"The bullying was getting out of hand and we were not handling it well," Albus begins.
"That meant you had the right to treat those six like some kind of important pawns in a chess game?" Minerva shoots at him.
"Mr Pettigrew and Severus were getting dangerous and Mr Black and Mr Potter needed the distraction from themselves. It was the best thing to do at the time when we had let it happen for two years and it took a month for Mr Pettigrew to open my eyes. None of us did anything, Minerva. It was time to let them fix the mess they had made. It wouldn’t be fair to intervene after everything."
"But the rules, Albus! The Forbidden Forest! How would Mr Lupin have felt if he accidentally hurt someone!? Why didn’t you stop this madness even after you found out what they were doing!? The Forest is filled with Dark creatures!"
"And a werewolf can take care of those Dark creatures with little problem, especially when he is with his pack."
"His pack! They are hormonal teenagers!"
"But they are his pack and have been for quite a while. If we stop them now, I doubt Mr Lupin will survive the next full moon."
Minerva seems distraught, trying to find a reason to stop the chaos the six fourth years have created just behind their backs.
When she cannot find any, Albus sighs sympathetically, "If we had stopped it at the beginning, if we weren’t so blind to Mr Black and Mr Potter’s cruel behaviour towards Severus, we could have prevented this, but alas. They survived as they could and we will have to live with that. Do not blame yourself, Minerva. We will learn our lesson and try not to repeat that grave mistake in the future."
"Oh, Albus, what have we done?" she whispers with tears in her eyes.
There is no more yelling that night, but there are apologies given and promises made.
Professor McGonagall gives her addition to the plan and a tentative bond starts forming between the Head of Gryffindor House and the brilliant Slytherin student.
•••
That summer Severus tells his mother he is done and moves in with the Potters. She understands, though it is hard for her to accept it. James’ parents are delighted when they meet Severus, despite his fears and uncertainty.
He finds out how it feels to have a stable family and he likes it. Really, really likes it.
They do not take custody, of course. Severus still meets with his mother and writes to her every week. He does not know how to feel about her, but he knows this is normal.
The summer rolls around and Hogwarts is just around the corner.
Sirius, James and him take planning to another level.
•••
Severus steels his nerves and knocks on the wooden door in the back of the magic café and tea house.
"Enter," a firm male voice calls from inside.
The teen opens the door and is greeted by a cozy room in yellows and light oranges with a small table in front of a green sofa. A relatively short man sits on it, bright purple eyes assessing him.
"Good afternoon, Mr Snape," Potions Master Grikkolo Aciro greets with a slight nod.
"Good afternoon, Mr Aciro," responds Severus stiffly and waits for the man to gesture to the green armchair facing the sofa before he sits.
"You are here to discuss a potential apprenticeship with me for advanced making and inventing of potions, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"What is your goal, what do you hope to accomplish if I give you this apprenticeship?"
"I am planning on going to Spain or Italy to work with the unique atmosphere and temperature that gives Moon potions the Iridescent Glow as the experts call it. I am interested in creating Moon potions in general, but especially the Wolfsbane. I know someone who knows someone with Lycanthropy, and I feel like I can help. This is my goal for this apprenticeship, since you are the only real Italian Potions Masters in Britain at the moment and I can’t leave the country, not yet."
Aciro nodds as if confirming something to himself and asked, "Is it just the feeling of obligation towards that person that pushed you in choosing Potions as your future career path?"
"No, sir. Potions are my passion, I have tried mixing them with transfiguration spells, as well as some modified charms and it is what makes it exciting. The thrill of a discovery gone right, the precision needed, the intimate knowledge of every ingredient. They are in my blood, my talent, my escape. Potions are beautiful. That is why I think a career where I will have full freedom over what I can or cannot do with my potion is just for me. In the forest at night, in a potions lab, with the herbs and poisonous plants is where I belong."
"Good. Now, how would you explain the reaction of a lavender oil with grinded wasp wings…"
•••
"Soooo, how did it go?" asks Lily quietly under the Invisibility Cloak next to him.
They have to be careful, their "fallout" last year first semester was the talk of the town for months and after that it became clear he was just like the other Slytherins, Dark to the core.
The fake pranks between Severus and the (other) Marauders escalated after that, going from mildly dangerous to possibly lethal. At the end of last year they made a show of Dumbledore finally snapping at all of them and punishing them with a weekly detention with him for their whole sixth year.
Easier to make plans without arising suspicion, but the horrified school does not have to know that.
For the record Dumbledore had been terrifying and the rumours of what happened in his office (spread by Lily and Sirius mainly) were even more so.
The only problem was that Lily had to somehow attend too without someone noticing, but McGonagall took care of that. Since that was the only time the Head of Gryffindor did not have to worry about dealing with the Marauders, it was only logical that this would be the time when she had her tutoring sessions with her apprentice and prefect.
That had been quite the shock to the Gryffindor girls, considering their friend’s talent for charms, not transfiguration, but when they asked, Lily said that Flitwick did not do apprenticeships because of the secrets of his goblin magic and that McGonagall was the next best thing.
"You’re not finding out before the others, Lils," Severus smirks under a masking charm that keeps his face miserable and mouth closed.
She groans (more like whines), "But Seeeevvv! I have been friends with you for way longerrrr!"
"But I promised, now, didn’t I?"
"You just don’t want to put the effort in telling it twice. Admit it," she pouts.
He snorts, "Work smarter, not harder."
Lily huffs.
"Plus, we are literally in front of the Headmaster’s office, you will find out in a few minutes."
"It’s about the principle!"
Severus mutters the password to the gargoyle and before they know it they are in front of Dumbledore’s desk.
"So, Severus," the Slytherin has made it clear that he is not "his boy" and that Dumbledore has no right to call him that after everything, "what news do you bring?"
Severus stares at those twinkling eyes in disappointment after removing the poker-face charm. Lily giggles and folds the Cloak in her lap.
"Headmaster," he starts with an overly patient tone as if talking to a child, "what part of 'I will tell you what the answer is only when all of us are present' did you not understand?"
"Forgive the old man for being curious," responds Dumbledore with amusement written all over his face. Severus rolls his eyes.
He plops into the burgundy armchair and curls in it, kicking his shoes off. The teen has been busy with preparing for the interview, doing all his homework and dancing around the offers to become a Death Eater before he graduates to even sleep properly, let alone sneak in Gryffindor tower for hugs.
Severus thinks it is stupid that he still needs them after his deprivation is gone. They do not need to be long cuddles every night anymore, true, a few hugs and casual touches a day are more than sufficient but it is still annoying.
Especially the fact that his need for physical touch is not going to go away. Love language and all that.
Lily purses her lips from where she is sitting in the sky blue armchair and mutters something about strangling people who promised they would not be late, but look at the time, James, it’s been ten seconds and you’re still not here, you selfish prat—
"We’ve arrived!" two cheerful voices announce not too loudly as to not startle Severus. Peter follows them soundlessly as always. The Slytherin does not even fully stand, only lifts himself to sit on the arm of the chair until James gets comfortable and returns to his previous position, this time in the Gryffindor’s lap.
"Am I the last one?" asks Remus dejectedly, walking in with two unopened chocolate bars and one already half-eaten.
"Still waiting for Professor McGonagall," answers him Lily.
Dumbledore serves them all tea as they wait. Remus gives one of the unopened chocolates to Severus, who blinks at him.
"It’s dark. I bought it for you, none of us likes dark chocolate."
"But why?" his eyebrows scrunch up a little as his hand stretches out of his James-shaped cocoon to take the chocolate.
Remus shrugs, "It was limited edition from Belgium. This brand is rare in the best of times and now with the conflicts and disturbances in Britain, it’s practically a miracle to find it. Unfortunately for us, it sells only dark chocolate, so I decided to buy you some."
Severus smiles, "Thank you."
"No problem," smiles the werewolf back.
Before Sirius can start whining that he wants chocolate too, McGonagall comes in and sits on the last unoccupied armchair.
Severus immediately uncurls from James' chest and says simply, "I’m accepted."
When the "Congratulations, Severus!", "Good job!", "Awesome!", "Excellent, Severus!", "That’s amazing!", and the similar exclamations die down, Severus tells them in detail how the meeting with the third best Potions Master in the world went, obviously excluding the questions that "required a high level of understanding the intricacies of the art of potions," in Severus’ own words.
He will have a second meeting with Master Aciro to discuss details and such about the apprenticeship and school and money.
Then they will decide what to do.
When the topic is closed Severus tries to stand up to leave. The time of their "detention" is over and he has stuff to do.
James does not let him.
"What do you think you’re doing?" asks Severus calmly, relaxing just a bit into the tight (and warm) embrace again.
"Where do you think you’re going?" counters James.
"To my dorms and then the kitchens," deadpans the Slytherin. "I’ve got arithmancy problems to solve, runes to practice, an advanced transfiguration essay to complete and rare potions to experiment with. My time is already running thin, so if you would kindly not use my weakness against me that would be great."
"When was the last time you slept for more than three hours, Severus?" asks McGonagall who gestures for James to not let Severus escape.
He narrows his eyes at her, "How is that any of your concern, Professor? Is my grade in transfiguration lower than O? Do you have any complaints about my essays, or—"
"Severus," she interrupts him sharply, "you are as far from stupid as the Earth is from the centre of the galaxy. You do realise that we have been conspiring for far too long for our relationship to be still strictly teacher–student one. I am concerned for your health habits, considering they are nonexistent from what I can see. When was the last time you slept and for how long?"
Severus glares, but after a beat of silence he says, "Yesterday morning, exactly one hour and seventeen minutes, got up just on time for a quick breakfast."
"And before that?" McGonagall pushes.
"The day before yesterday, forty-three minutes," he practically growls at her.
"When was the last time you slept for more than five hours uninterrupted?"
He stays silent. "Can’t remember, sometime three weeks ago," he mutters eventually.
"That’s what I thought." She is not done however, "When did you last eat and what?"
"Yesterday morning, a sandwich with ham and cheese," he resigns, knowing there is no fighting against James and his stupid (blessed), uncomfortable (soft), trapping (safe) warmth.
(He was hoping for this. He was selfishly hoping they would care enough to notice. He was hoping James would force him to stay, because dang it he missed this)
"A sandwitch?" presses McGonagall.
"Yeah."
"What about before that?"
"The day before yesterday, right before midnight, a plate of spaghetti. Before you ask, yes, I hadn’t eaten anything else that day."
"Mhm. And lastly, when was the last time you got real cuddles and for how long?" It is immensely surreal to hear that word from McGonagall’s mouth.
Severus snaps his head upwards, "I thought I didn’t need that anymore!"
"When was the last time you were properly hugged then?" McGonagall narrows his eyes at him.
He sighs, "Four days ago when I was in the kitchens and James acted as my chair because I didn’t agree to leave my work."
"What I am getting from you is that you cannot be trusted to take care of yourself right now with all the stress from exams, the internship, school in general and the political situation that affects your house the most. Am I correct?"
Severus slumps back in defeat (the defeat is warm and cozy and nice) and nods.
McGonagall says something else, but he is already drifting.
•••
Severus wakes up in a warm cocoon of blankets.
He frowns.
It is nice, but it is not the real deal.
A hand begins to play with his hair, fingertips scratching his scalp from the top of his head to the nape of his neck.
He sighs in contentment, but still cracks one eye open, "That’s nice, but it won’t save you for long."
James huffs, glancing up from the thing he is writing, "It will buy me time to finish my homework though."
If Severus was fully awake he would have made a quip about that being a first. Now, however, he is sleepy and comfortable and the effort of opening his mouth again seems pointless. So he only hums and closes his eye again.
They sit (lie in Severus’ case) in silence for some time.
The door to the kitchens opens and soon Remus’ soft steps approach. He sits cross-legged next to the cocoon and leans against it like a beanbag.
Severus cannot be bothered to open his eyes and see what the other boy is doing.
After awhile Remus goes to sit in front of the fireplace.
When James is done he does not bother to gather his things. Instead he leaves them where they are chaotically spread on the table and unpacks the cocoon. James removes the blankets, picks Severus up, goes to the beanbags in front of the fireplace and curls around the Slytherin. Throughout all of that Severus is completely limp, not even bothering to open his eyes.
Remus hides his smile behind his book. If you showed that scene to both boys a year ago they would have probably laughed and called you crazy. Maybe hexed you in Severus’ case if he was having a bad day.
Now it is common sense. Completely normal for Severus to feel like a cat and completely normal James to act as his personal heater. Completely normal for the Marauders to be so open and vulnerable with each other (and isn’t the thought of Severus being a Marauder ridiculous from a year ago point of view?) that Severus does not even twitch when James carries him around effortlessly like a pillow.
Remus and Lily think it adorable. Sirius does not pay attention to it anymore, absolutely used to James having a cat draped on him all the time. Peter seems happy that his friends are getting along perfectly (and also that no one is touching him).
The day they are not forced to hide from the whole school anymore, things will be perfect.
•••
The schedule they made is working and Peter is smug, even more than usual.
His Slytherin friend is eating three square meals a day, sleeps eight hours each night, completes his assignments and has time for research and Marauder bonding. Peter was confused at first, how is Severus’ psyche so strong? How is he not depressed and has such a good grasp on his emotions?
Four months. That is how long it took Peter to figure it out. If it was any other person, the Gryffindor would have been ashamed. Severus, however, is not other people. Peter considers him his equal on the "just enough intelligence" scale and that is saying something.
Severus has been training in occlumency.
Peter has always avoided the Mind Arts, planning on starting when he graduates and can afford to focus solely on them. He is secretly terrified of the prospect of someone interrupting his training right when he needs the most focus and causing him to shatter his greatest asset—his mind.
Severus does not have such concerns, his training apparently happening in his secret lab, the location of which Peter still does not know. The hours spent on observing his mind and later on hovering just outside the surface usually reveal what is wrong and dangerous in your mind. Of course you can learn to avoid the risky, unstable parts, maybe stabilise them a little, or rearrange them to be deadly traps for a Legilimens. That is, if you just do not want, or have time, to deal with your issues.
Severus has had enough time, patience and common sense to methodically fix his mental problems. Peter is actually impressed. He, of course, will not be able to asses Severus’ mind truly until he learns legilimency, but all of the muggle psychology books have taught him how to do it from the outside. The Slytherin is of a sound mind.
Peter, Remus, Lily and Severus make their schedules together. James, Sirius, Peter and Severus plan their fake pranks. Lily and James start dating. Severus and James have replaced their PCPW with official cuddle-brother relationship. All six of them run in the Forbidden Forest on full moons.
Sixth year is the best.
•••
"Did you hear?"
"Is he truly gone?"
"I bet it was them again."
"It was bound to happen."
"Do you think they are torturing him somewhere?"
"I think the git deserves whatever they do to him."
"It sounds like a suicide to me."
Severus roams the halls of Hogwarts unseen and unheard, laughing silently at the crazy theories and rumours traveling through the school body.
He is not surprised by their reaction, just disappointed. So predictable it is not even funny. He laughs anyway.
"How is the poor tortured soul feeling on this fine afternoon?" a casual drawl sounds next to him.
"Or maybe the vengeful ghost leading war with Peeves?" a second voice adds on his other side.
"As well as any haunting presence can be, considering they have been buried alive," quips Severus.
James huffs, "It’s ridiculous."
"Most people are, especially when it comes to the black sheep."
"I thought I was the black here," jokes Sirius and Severus groans.
Soon Peter and Remus join them, followed by a disillusioned Lily, all summoned by their rings.
The students part in front of them like the Red Sea, unaware that they are not four, but six. They head to the Headmaster’s office for their monthly meeting.
"So, Severus," begins Dumbledore when all if them are settled comfortably with tea in their armchairs, "how is Portugal?"
Severus laughs, "It’s awesome. The ingredients there are nothing like the ones we know here, the way they react with one another even less so. It’s all because of the climate. The language is hard as we know, but I manage, considering half the things I say are part of the potions terminology. Master Aciro is not strict, but requires an almost impossible amount of creativity. I love it!"
"I’m glad," twinkles Dumbledore.
"Sounds impressive," says Lily dreamily.
"I kinda want to meet that guy," says Sirius. "He seems interesting."
"It is certainly not impossible, right Headmaster?" inquires (demands) McGonagall.
"It is certainly not," Dumbledore agrees. "How would you feel about that Severus?"
His eyes are shining. "I’d love that."
"Why don’t you tell us a bit more about him?" rumbles James’ chest from behind him.
Severus starts and does not stop. Master Aciro tested him at the very beginning, treating him like a lowly servant to see how Severus would react. The Slytherin, of course, took a Slytherin approach. Every given order he messed up deliberately without actually defying Master Aciro. Scrub the cauldrons? Sure, let me get my second toothbrush and watch me as I make one swipe a day until you let me use magic. Clean the whole lab without a wand, but don’t touch any of the vials or ingredients that are spilled everywhere? Of course, sir, give me five seconds to focus so I can use wandless magic to lift the ingredients to the ceiling and spread all the dirt in the corridors which I don’t need to step on(I can’t tell you why). Bring me ten ingredients from ten stores around the city, but I’ll give you a list so all you’re doing is run an errand? Yes, sir, but I didn’t have anywhere to store them since you pushed me out of the building with nothing but money, so I put them all together in one big jar to carry them more easily, also, I accidentally dropped the jar a couple of times so they are now mixed together, that won’t be a problem, right? (treat me like an apprentice or I’ll force you to get rid of me early, I’ll not be the one to quit)
The two Professors and the Marauders are dying of laughter, composure long forgotten.
Severus continues to tell them how Master Aciro told him at the end of his first week that he was impressed with Severus’ creativity, composure and acting skills and that he passed the first test. The next two weeks he gave Severus increasingly difficult potions, all of which he had to research thoroughly before even attempting them, but completed each and every one. Turns out he was not really expected to, Master Aciro just wanted him to know what to do when he did not know what to do with a potion. Severus, however, exceeded his expectations at the cost of his health and at that all the people in the room groan.
Master Aciro is not stupid. This event is enough for him to find out about the abuse. Asking for help has never been one of his strong suits, admits Severus. He might want to work on that.
After three weeks of absurd situations Master Aciro finally deems Severus capable and just in the past week he has learned so many things that he thinks the beginning was worth it.
And that is his retelling of the past month. The praises about Master Aciro at the end are almost endless.
"I definitely want to meet this man," says Sirius with awe in his voice. James agrees.
"Why don’t you invite him here for our meeting next month?" suggests Dumbledore.
Severus agrees.
"How are things here? We’ve talked about me enough," he says.
They tell him about the escalation of the rumours about him and that gives all of them a good laugh. They tell him how people are scared of them too much to tell them anything, but Lily is their source of information and apparently the school is divided into two main cliques with two divisions in each. One is defending the Light and one the Dark, that is obvious, what with the war brewing. But what is interesting is, in each side there is a division "in defence of" and "against" Severus Snape. Not the Marauders. Severus Snape. Everyone says the Marauders are bullies, despite that half the school laughed every time a prank humiliated the Slytherin. Now their consciences are eating at them.
Severus finds this hilarious.
But also…he says a few words and Peter and Dumbledore get it immediately. They explain to the others and suddenly there is yet another plan, but bigger, forming in that ancient office.
•••
"Headmaster Dumbledore," greets Aciro a month later.
"Potions Master Aciro," twinkles at the large man Dumbledore.
"Thank you for inviting me to such a personal event."
"The pleasure is ours, believe me. The boys have been making lists with the things they want to ask you."
"Oh, have they now?" Aciro seems intrigued.
"Why yes, they are quite the—"
The door to his office opens, deep green robes swirling at McGonagall’s feet.
She smiles sharply at the Italian, "Good afternoon, Mr Aciro, I am Minerva McGonagall, pleased to meet you."
He firmly shakes her hand, "It seems you already know my name, Deputy Headmistress, pleased to meet you too. I have heard many things about you and nothing bad." Aciro shoots a discreet look at Dumbledore, brown eyes flashing with something Minerva cannot quite place yet.
McGonagall nods, "I feel like we will get along well, Master Aciro."
He smiles, "The feeling is mutual."
Muffled laughter nears the door and Peter and Lily come in, chuckling at something behind them. James follows them, carrying a reading Severus over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Sirius is wheezing and Remus is pinching the bridge of his nose. A small smile is tugging at the corners of his lips, but he has a reputation to uphold.
"…what the funny thing is," Severus is saying, not looking up.
Minerva immediately casts a disillusionment charm on Master Aciro and Albus greets the teens as if everything is as usual. The man is bewildered, but his curiosity gets the better of him and he moves so that he is not in the way.
"Oi, Pads! Catch!" calls out the first jock, the one with glasses, playfully jostling Severus.
"Drop me and you’re dead," grumbles the Slytherin.
He is still focused on his book, even as Glasses flips him gently in the other jock’s, the one with long flowy hair, hands. One foot propped on the other, hands neatly at his sides and holding up his book, he is the picture of an aristocratic snob. Glasses sits on the burgundy armchair and Hair gives him Severus back.
The ginger girl is almost in tears, the boy with scars and even the short, reserved one, are laughing silently. None of them seem to notice the mischievous glint in the Deputy Headmistress and Headmaster’s eyes.
Aciro is blinking furiously. The Severus Snape he knows does not like anyone in his personal space, avoids people like the plague and spends hours alone with his research. He knows the Severus Snape who is sarcastic, cutting and always with his claws out.
The Severus Snape here…is docile. He is comfortable with being tossed around and carried in the arms of boys with twice his muscle (which…what? Since when did he have jock friends?). He is comfortable with noise around him (though admittedly not very loud, these children seem to be used to Severus’ preferences) and the laughter at his expense (even Aciro finds it hard to keep his laughs quiet in the face of cat-like, with an I’m-better-than-you attitude Severus being manhandled by two jocks and still looking like he owns the place).
When the laughter dies down a little, the Deputy Headmistress gestures subtly at Aciro, removing the disillusionment charm.
"I am assuming this is normal?" he asks with a small smile playing on his lips.
The teens startle, heads whipping to face him. Severus’ black eyes widen and he scrambles out of the jock’s hands, clutching his book to his chest. Aciro blinks startled.
"Master Aciro," says Severus with hidden anxiety, "I didn’t know you would be here so early."
Aciro stifles a sigh, wondering how long it took the Deputy and the Headmaster to earn his deep trust. The children he can understand, they have probably been friends since at least first year. But the adults…
"Severus, we’ve talked about this, no?" he asks gently.
The teen’s eyes widen. "No, it’s not like that," he exclaims in alarm, surprising Aciro yet again. "I just—It’s not—" he falls silent. Few things can stump Severus’ sharp tongue. The situation in this room is apparently one of them.
Severus shoots a panicked look at the short boy, who nods.
"Mr Aciro," he starts and the calmness in his voice does not hide the sharp edge. The way he tasted the Italian’s name told the man this kid can be dangerous. "I believe two words can explain many things to intelligent men. Touch starvation."
Aciro blinks from the bluntness. "Ah," he nods after a beat of silence. Then he inclines his head, smile returning, "Why don’t you return to your seat, Severus?"
The boy blushes scarlet and, without meeting Aciro’s eyes, hesitantly curls into Glasses, who watched the whole interaction with barely hidden worry.
Aciro sees the exact moment Severus melts and it…it makes something in him hum in agreement. This…is right. And somehow it makes sense. Severus as a cat makes sense.
Aciro looks questioningly at the two adults. The Deputy Headmistress nods, "This is very much normal, yes."
"May I sit then, if no one will occupy this chair?" Aciro asks.
"Why, of course," beams the Headmaster. "Now, I think, introductions are in order."
"I’m Lily Evans, sir, it’s a pleasure meeting you. I’m Severus’ childhood friend," the ginger says with a smile.
"I am glad you were there for him, Ms Evans," replies Aciro warmly. The girl beams.
"My name is Remus Lupin and…" the boy takes a deep breath, as if preparing for something bad, but inevitable, which causes the man to worry. The whole room seems tense. The children are looking at him guardedly, even Severus. "And I am the friend of the friend Severus told you about."
Oh.
Oh.
That…that explains it.
"It’s alright," Aciro says carefully. "I am a Potions Master, as you are aware, and we’ve been working on the Wolfsbane potion for months now, as I am sure you are aware too. It’s alright." The boy smiles at him tentatively and he counts it as a win.
"Peter Pettigrew," the dangerous boy nods with an air of grudging respect. Aciro returns it seriously. This will take some getting used to.
"Name’s Potter. James Potter," smirks Glasses. Severus groans and flicks his nose. "I’m this Cat Prince’s cuddle-brother."
The Italian laughs at all the jokes the boy put in those two sentences, surprised that a clearly pure-blood teenager knew the James Bond one and glad that the kids seem to warm up to him, "Well, that was just the right amount of funny I like on my schedule for each interaction."
"Why thank you, good sir," Mr Potter plays along while Severus is pinching the bridge of his nose.
"In all seriousness though, how can I trust you with my name, Mr Aciro?" the last boy says with a straight face. Aciro blinks. Mr Potter and Ms Evans are clearly trying not to laugh for some reason. The black-haired teen continues, "I mean, the stars have not aligned yet for me to tell such a powerful name, Sirius and Orion are still not in agreement in our black skies at night."
The Italian looks at the other children. They are all shaking now, or hiding their mouths. When he turns to Mr Constellation again, he startles a little by his wide smile.
"Sirius Orion Black at your service! It’s an honour, sir," the teen offers his hand.
Aciro throws his head backwards and bursts into laughter, hand over his eyes. After a minute he wipes away tears and grasps the offered hand, saying, "You all are delightful, truly amazing. I can say with certainty it is an honour to meet you, little sir."
"Good, perfect," pipes in Dumbledore, "would you like some tea, Master Aciro, or perhaps a cup of coffee?"
The man politely declines and prompts the British to get down to business.
"Right, of couse. Mr Pettigrew?" is the Headmaster’s response.
"Mr Aciro, you are here today because of a plan. A complicated plan revolving around your Slytherin apprentice. Please make yourself comfortable. This will take awhile…"
Aciro is in awe. Peter Pettigrew is a genius and the plan is hilarious.
He is honoured they trusted him with it and tells them as such.
When the Italian leaves with Severus late in the night through the floo, he puts an arm around him and for his delight the boy does not shy away from the touch.
'Were two months enough to gain his trust?' he asks himself.
Perhaps they were.
The invisible steel ring on his right hand certainly feels like a proof of that.
•••
"Did you hear? Dumbledore invited Potions Master Grikkolo Aciro to attend tonight’s feast!"
"Oh my, really? What for? Does it have anything to do with…"
"Him? No, I don’t reckon so…though I haven’t heard what Aciro will be doing."
"Maybe Dumbledore wants to replace Slughorn, everyone knows he is an awful teacher."
"Who? Dumbledore? Replace a bad teacher? Have you gone mental?"
Peter snorts at the last comment, though it is too quiet for anyone to hear it in the loud corridor. The conversation around him are not even remotely interesting, but he needs to make sure nobody knows the purpose of Mr Aciro’s visit. Thankfully the crowd soon sweeps him into the Great Hall.
"Do you see that? There are some weird chairs in front of the teachers’ table!"
"Is that a chair looking like a snitch made of yarn?"
"It is! I want to sit in it!"
"Of course you do, you freak. I wonder what all the themes stand for."
"Maybe the snitch is for a Quidditch Cat? I like the a pink flower one that looks like a Lily and the golden throne with red padding like for a Gryffindor King."
"Nah, I prefer the silver Lock one."
"Guys. The Moon with the paws. Come on."
"What about the dark wooden one?"
"Its shapes are reminding me of something Dark, I dunno. I like the weird Metallic one, the curve of the backrest and the drastic difference between the legs are cool."
"My question is who the heck would sit in that eye-sore in the middle? It literally looks like someone took Dumbledore’s Robes and turned them into a chair!"
Peter agrees wholeheartedly. That lavish throne should have never come to existence.
The students and teachers take their seats, Aciro with the latter, and they all start eating.
"I am aware most of you want to just get on with the feast and finally leave for home. However, I ask of you to endure my rambling for a little while, if any of you could bring yourself to spare pathetic greasy Snivellous more than a glance, that is," a clear calm voice travels through the great hall without the need of a spell. The students turn in their seats disbelievingly. Can this really be…
Murmurs spread like fire, conspiracy theorists using this occasion to let their imagination run wild, some of them letting relieved sighs because what if Snivellous was really dead? The guilt would crush them and they would not be able to live their lives in peace, knowing they are not people as good as they thought they were. But the greasy git is not dead and they turn to watch how much time will pass before the Marauders do something hilarious to finish the school year with. Some even start betting money on the level of embarrassment he will have to endure for having the audacity to return here after everything.
Snape continues, seemingly unbothered by all the commotion, "This might be the only time we will ever see each other again, at least I hope so. You must know that I, Severus Snape, disappeared around the middle of the first semester and no one knew where and how. Most of you believed I had killed myself to escape the intense bullying I was forced to endure at the hands of four students who call themselves the Marauders. That is false. First, if I were to kill myself, I would do it where everyone could see and I would make it look like it was my bullies’ fault. I would also make it gruesome enough to trigger everyone with less than strong psyche. But as you can see I am alive and well, despite your wishes. I didn’t manage that alone. Eight incredible people were there for me every step of the way and I want to thank them here along with a few more, in front of everyone present, to show you exactly how many of you are guilty of being mindless sheep." At that word he pauses and his penetrating gaze sweeps over Slytherin. Then he turns to Gryffindor, one particular person actually and smiles, "The first person I want to express my gratitude towards is my best friend since childhood. She was the first witch aside from my mother I encountered and our relationship has been through so much I doubt anything short of murdering each other would be able to sever it. Lily Evans, please come to the stage."
The young woman, beams and walks steadily towards the Lily chair. Severus’ sole attention is on her and when she stands next to him they embrace each other. He turns back to the gaping audience. "Your first strong conviction is shattered here. I am not what I seem and most of me you have seen was carefully staged. Think of this as you will, but let me speak for once." He turns to Lily, holding her hands affectionately, "You have seen me in every possible light, at my worst and at my best. We saw each other grow from innocent, rude children," she chuckles, "to the young adults we are today. Though I’m sure my growth was way more difficult to watch." They both laugh. "But no matter the way we’ve changed, my deep child-like love for you hasn’t changed one bit. I love you like the girl I once played with, the temperamental kid who would cry because her sister insulted her or slap me when I was rude back. I can’t love you like the woman you’re becoming. I do not have any romantic feelings for you and I doubt you have any for me. I will always love you, Lily Evans."
Lily casts and her voice reaches the ears of everyone, "Sev, I love you like the shy boy who didn’t know how to tell me I was a witch so he just blurted it in front of my sister. I love you like the teenager who would apologise for everything in private, but would rather die than do it in public. I love your growth and I love you as a whole, but I can never love your heart. I don’t think we were meant to be together like that. I will always love you too, Severus Snape." And she sits, light green and soft pink petals seemingly embracing her.
Despite the length of their speeches, the students and the teachers listen with open mouths…figuratively speaking, of course. Because everyone knows, or they thought they knew, Evans and Snivellous went their separate ways after the greasy git insulted her with the worst word in front of the whole school.
Snape shifts, his left side facing the students and his right side the teachers. "The second person I would like to call to the stage is one I did not have a good start with. We were both biased, convinced we were always right and so prideful that none of us would ever admit we were wrong. Professor Minerva McGonagal, please come to the stage."
Her usually stern face softens as she gracefully moves to stand next to him.
"Professor," he starts, then chuckles for some reason, "we’ve come a long way, which admittedly might have ran in circles at one point (a lot of points), and I can say without remorse that I am not going to miss you as my Professor after I officially graduate. After all this time you have become much more than a transfiguration teacher to me. You taught me infinitely more important lessons about life, emotions and true wisdom. Thank you for taking the role of a first true adult in my life. I see you as my teacher, as a friend, as an authority. I see you as my mother. Thank you for being a better mum than my biological one could ever be." They embrace each other. Later McGonagall will deny the glistening of water in her eyes and many will readily believe her. After all, the deputy headmistress is famous for the stern exterior that people believe runs deep to her bones. But the few who are near her at that moment know the truth.
The silence from before cannot be compared to this one. Professor McGonagall sits in her yearn snitch, suspiciously looking like a smug cat despite her professional demeanour not changing at all.
"Next I want to bring your attention to our important guest. Potions Master Grikkolo Aciro, two Platinum Cauldrons, ten Gratitudes of Craft, co-inventor of the Wolfsbane potion, inventor of twelve others…and the one who offered me an apprenticeship for a year."
The large Italian comes to stand next to Severus with a soft smile on his face.
"Master Aciro, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done for me. Thank you for caring, for accepting me, the whole me, thank you for the help. Thank you for your patience and lead. And finally…thank you for the adoption, dad."
Gasps in the audience, just like in the movies. At least one comes from the teachers’ table and Severus finds that hilarious for some reason.
His father’s smile widens, "Severus, from the moment you started snarking at me I knew I will like you. Then you proved you’re a genius. I was more than happy that I took you as my apprentice. But when you started showing me your vulnerable side little by little…that was when something fell into place. I knew there was no going back to a strictly professional relationship. I knew you were more than apprentice to me. I love you, son." They embrace.
"Love you too, dad," says Severus.
And Aciro sits in the Dark chair.
"Now, I don’t think I have to say much about Professor Dumbledore. He made a mistake and realised it with a lot of work from the person I will welcome to the stage last. Sir, your sense of style is broken. I am glad I will not be around to witness such horrors anymore. Please take your atrocious seat."
Professor Dumbledore chuckles as he does so, the combination of his robes and the chair is vile. The students watch with disbelief. Did greasy Snivellous just talk like that to the Headmaster?
"Please do not go into shock, I don’t feel like dealing with that. The next person is one I helped with things both personal and not so much. The things we have done in this school with him, the conversations we’ve had, nothing can compare to that. Sirius Black. Come here."
A few people fall from their seats, some start shouting, a lot of cursing ensue and Severus pinches the bridge of his nose.
"Silence," he growls, casting a spell he invented to make the whole room shake from this particular word. People are now staring at him fearfully. He knows soon this will turn to anger. Greasy Snivellous acting like he’s better than everyone? Who can allow this insolence?
The claps of the people already in their chairs answer that question.
"Sirius is my brother," Severus continues when the noise subsides, "and my dear friend. He lives to defy Darkness and bullying can definitely count, don’t you think?
"Sirius…we have had too many heart-to-hearts. No need to entertain these sheep with one more."
"Such a drama queen, your place is in the theatre," shoves him Sirius playfully and sits in the Lock.
"Why, thank you," laughs Severus.
"The next is one whose name brings me comfort. My second brother, James Potter."
'Seriously, they should not be surprised at this point,' he thinks with an inward sigh when the students watch horrified.
"James, listen carefully, because this is the only time I’m saying this." Severus takes a deep breath, "You are truly incredible. Your patience is something else. I love your warmth and I love your laugh. The sun is a part of you. The way you share it fascinates me. You are annoyingly loud at times and your smirk still infuriates me. Your obsession with quidditch is ridiculous, in my opinion. But…it’s part of you, and because of that I can tolerate it. You are my brother after all."
"Sev. I love you." And James pulls him into a tight hug.
Just like all those years ago, Severus melts.
After a couple of heartbeats James sits in the Gryffindor King throne next to Lily and their chairs immediately change.
They turn a soft brown, forms shifting to elegant intertwining branches and at the top of James’ a head of a stag forms and above Lily’s a head of a doe. Their chairs are closer than the rest and the two lean out and kiss demonstratively, intertwining their hands.
Whoever still thinks Severus is romantically involved with Lily is an idiot.
"Remus Lupin, the calm and quiet, you are up next."
Finally. The students are too shocked from all the past revelations to react to the other two Marauders.
"Remus, I love our midnight strolls. I love how we can sit in silence and share so many things without uttering a single word. I love how much we are alike and yet complete opposites, how we are the two sides of the same coin. Your companionship means the world to me. Thank you."
"Severus, I feel like I should be the one thanking. You never judged. Was never disturbed by my oddities, though that goes both ways. I was such a coward and…I say this from us four…I’m sorry. For the last time, in front of all these people, we are sorry. Thank you, Severus."
"I’ll allow it just this once. No more apologies, yes?"
The boys nod. Remus sits in the Moon.
"Last person," murmurs Severus, but still the entire Hall hears him. He says nothing more as Peter stands up tall and for the first time drops his coward persona in front of the whole school.
His confident even stride is soundless, back straight and sharp eyes full of intelligence trained on Severus. All those he passes near to shiver. This kind of power…how has he hidden it?
Pettigrew stands next to Snape.
The students gape. The two are…they are….
Royals.
Dignity shines, shredding the illusion of cowardice and hatred. There is no Darkness, no pettiness, or grudges held.
The Slytherin and Gryffindor nod at each other, no words said. Pettigrew sits in the metallic extravagance, staring at the students of Hogwarts with steel gaze.
"Eight. That is the number of people close to me and the people who cared enough to help a drowning soul. Not a single one of you did anything when I was practically tortured. And you knew what it was. If you like the feeling of being a scumbag, continue ignoring the problems around you. However," his voice dropped in a low malice, "I will make sure you regret it. Every day, every week, every month, my voice in your conscience will scream at you and you can deny it all you want, but deep down you will know. The choices you are making. They are wrong ones."
Severus then throws a smoke bomb that hides him for seven seconds and he covers himself with the Invisibility Cloak. The moment the smoke reaches the chairs they combust in dust, their occupants vanishing.
The dust forms words in the air.
'Everything starts with the person in the mirror.
Silence.
Then, chaos.
•••
"It is interesting really," says Peter thoughtfully, twirling his wand which just a moment ago cast the killing curse. "One moment you think you’re immortal…and the second you’re dead. Killed by a boy. A teenager who apparently has nothing better to do than stop genocidal madmen from taking over the world."
"Are you monologuing?" asks the young man who entered the room a second ago, voice muffled by the colourless mask on his face.
Peter frowns behind his matted silver one, "Yes, why? It’s not like I’m wasting time, he’s already dead."
The man is silent for awhile. Then he mutters, "Actually, that tracks," and leaves.
"It is interesting, yes, but generic. You couldn’t even hide your horcruxes cleverly. Such a pity."
Peter levitates the dead man through the window and apparates in the garden. He sets fire to the corpse and watches it burn with something akin to grim amusement and satisfaction.
"Only you, Tale, can be this calm after killing a guy."
"We both know he wasn’t even human. He was less in every aspect of that word. Nothing he got was enough."
Black Hole hums. "Come on," he says after some time, "The Whites are waiting."
Peter and Black go back to the house where Shadow Hunter has finished his safety check.
"Nothing cursed, tainted, Dark, or dangerous. Let’s get out of here, Grandmaster said the Order are on their way."
They apparate just in time.
The Order of the Phoenix finds the ruined corpse, confirms its identity and the war is over before two months have passed since its beginning.
•••
"They are dangerous, Headmaster! They killed the Dark Lord without leaving a trace! We must find out who they are and what they want! They can have ambitions to be the next Dark Lords and Lady for all we know!" a distraught Molly Prewett is yelling a week later at Dumbledore with Alice Fotescue and Arthur Weasley flanking her.
Dumbledore twinkles at them, "Let’s not jump to conclusions before looking at all the available information. After all, those six individuals already announced their…admiration…for our dear Marauders. Severus’ speech really had an impact on our youth, didn’t it?"
Molly flushes. After all she was the one who burst into Dumbledore’s office with tears in her eyes after that feast to have a breakdown over how horrible she was.
"More like obsession than an admiration," mutters Alice.
"Even so, they are just doing what they think is right. They haven’t killed, or hurt anyone other than Voldemort himself and we can all agree this is more of a dream come true than a horrible nightmare, isn’t that right, Molly?"
She is silent for a moment, but then starts yelling again, "No, it’s not! Those people are dangerous! What if they only use the Marauders as an excuse? We have seen how powerful they are, Dumbledore, they killed the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named," the young woman is practically pleading at the end, despite the loud volume.
Alice sighs, putting a hand on her frantic friend’s shoulder. "It’s not that we want to lock them up and demand information," she tells Dumbledore calmly. "We just want to make sure they really are as well-meaning as they say. Some way of contacting them, maybe get their names, or something. Their identities aren’t at risk now that You-Know-Who is gone. The Death Eaters are not a threat to them, as Moly pointed out, we have seen their power."
Dumbledore studies them carefully, rubbing the invisible ring on his hand unnoticeably. Then he turns to the fireplace.
"Well, what do you say?" he asks with mirth in his voice. Alice groans when a figure clad in the deepest black steps out of the floo.
"I should’ve known," she mutters.
"Yup, you should’ve," laughs Black Hole, removing his mask. Molly Weasley gapes and Arthur startles.
"You’re still not allowed to tell the others," says Grey Hound, ruffling his brown hair.
"Yeah, the boss man said so," pipes up White Thorn.
"Because he’s the biggest drama queen on the planet," adds White Vine from next to him, their hands locked.
"Excuse me, who said I was the boss man here?" inquires Silver Tale indignantly.
"At least he monologued after he killed Voldy and not before. He knows his stuff, not like Black, who’s a drama queen in the 'look at me, I’m fabulous' way. Like Lucius Malfoy," quips Shadow Hunter, conveniently ignoring Tale’s exclamation.
"Did you just compare me to my future cousin-in-law? Because I am officially disowned, you should know that better than anyone," Black says faux-offended.
"Se-Severus Snape?" squeaks Molly, staring like she has seen a ghost.
He raises an eyebrow, "Molly Prewett, the girl who threw herself into a war right after school."
"Th-the Ma-Marauders!?" her voice goes even higher if that is possible. Shadow and Hound wince at the sound.
"The six and only," smirks Black.
Vine sighs, ”Molly—"
"Lily!" sobs Molly and throws her arms around Vine. "You could’ve died! Why didn’t you tell me!? What were you doing running around with those five? You look awesome in that white robe! And with James at your side! You look like a power couple, girl, you’re amazing! Where did you run off to after the feast? I have so many questions! I missed you, girly!"
Vine laughs, "Well, there are a few things we have to do before that, but we will explain, eventually." Then she sobers up, "We have to go now though. The Death Eaters are running around, wreaking havoc. Dumbledore will tell you the story and when that’s done we will decide when we’ll come to explain. Love you, bye!" And the six of them disappear in the fire.
Three heads swivel to Dumbledore who sends patroni to get the Active Members.
Fabian, Gideon and Molly Prewett, Seraphina, Effie, Edgar and Amelia Bones, Marlene, Angus and Elspeth McKinnon, Regulus Black, Frank Longbottom, Alice Fortescue, Arthur Weasley and Alastor Moody, all trusted members of the Order sit and listen and wonder.
The Six Shades of Grey who made their debut a week after the war began. The Six Shades of Grey who announced their attempt at redemption and awe of the Marauders. The Six Shades of grey who…were the Marauders.
The Marauders who announced their emigration to Portugal. The Marauders who said they will never step foot in England again. The Marauders who…came back to put an end to a war alone.
Regulus is going to kill Sirius, then bring him back to life and force him to think about himself for once.
•••
Silver and Shadow immediately go to shower, change and sleep.
"Home sweet home," throws himself onto the big couch Sirius after getting out of his Black Hole gear.
"Feels good to be done with that crap of a war," stretches his back James and goes to the kitchen for coffee.
Lily slaps his hands, "No coffee for you, mister, go to sleep."
"But loveee."
"Stop whining. Sleep is good for you."
James trudges towards his bedroom under the beautiful sounds of Sirius’ cackling.
"All of us should go to sleep, you included, Lily," says Remus quietly and gently tugs Sirius to his room before going to the young woman’s side. She smiles tiredly at him and yawns, nodding.
Soon the house is completely quiet, six people taking a well-deserved rest.
Stopping a war is tiring after all.
•••
A quiet knock interrupts Severus’ concentration. He finishes the eighteen counterclockwise stirs and goes to open the door.
"Hey," greets Pete and goes inside.
Severus returns to his potion while the other man passes him the ingredients.
Once it is done he bottles it and they go to the living room.
"Can you imagine feeling calm with children around?" asks Severus. It still baffles him, the answer Lily gave him when he asked how does she get any rest with little Harry around.
"Hah. Can you imagine how you will feel with yours?"
He smiles, "No. That’s the beautiful thing. How is your movie going?"
"Not bad. The people I’m working with are really chill and when there are problems they don’t go around screaming who is in the wrong, they just move straight to the solution—"
Knocks interrupt Pete.
Severus waves a hand and Remus, James and Sirius enter.
After the greetings Severus brings the tea from the kitchen with another wave of his hand.
He inhales the scent and smiles, closing his eyes.
His friends bicker a bit before silence falls.
"Sev," calls him James. He hums. The Gryffindor continues hesitantly, "Is Ylian…enough?"
Severus’ smile widens, "She’s my wife. Of course she is enough. But for the old time’s sake…" He finishes his tea and puts the cup on the table.
James smiles softly when the large black cat sprawls lazily in his lap. His fur is as soft as ever.
Peter takes a mandolin out and Sirius sings as Remus forms beautiful light patterns in the whole room that dance with the sun bunnies and Lady Magic.
Severus loves it all. He loves this house and his friends. He loves his wife. He loves his mother, despite the suffering he had to endure because of her. He loves the world. Soon he will have a little one to love.
His life will get a lot more complicated. Funnily enough he does not mind. As long as he has the Nine and Lady Magic on his side, he can face anything.