The Taming

Sirius stood in front of the mirror in their dorm as he straightened out his clothing, tucking in his shirt and properly tying his tie. He even made sure to wear trousers without any holes in them for the git. Merlin, he looked like a prat. 

Part of Sirius’s charm was the disheveledness of his appearance, the way he had still looked handsome despite his lack of effort. He usually kept his tie loose around his neck and his button-down only half tucked into his pants. It gave off a “just shagged” look that drove women wild. 

“Pads stop preening in the mirror, we’re going to be late for potions!” James complained. 

Sirius rolled his eyes and grabbed his bag before heading out with his best mate. James gave Sirius the rundown for the thousandth time that day, “Now when we go in there you’re going to partner up with Sniv and I’ll convince Lily to partner up with me. After that, you just start trying to charm the trousers off of him. Remember the list!” 

“I know Prongs, have a little faith in me,” he said, punching his mate's arm. James was becoming unbearable with his amount of nagging. Why couldn’t the Potter heir let him pursue Sniv his own way without constantly critiquing his every move? Sirius was getting close to making the Slytherin say yes, he could feel it.

He had to stop himself from running his hands through his hair multiple times throughout their walk to Slughorn’s class. Today was the first day that he ever properly styled it instead of just wetting his hand and running it through his curls. He knew that if he were to touch it he would muck it up but like a bruise, he felt the odd need to mess with it. 

Luckily the potions classroom had come into view, distracting Sirius from his thoughts. Though James had stressed about them being late they were actually quite early. Slughorn hadn’t even bloody shown up yet! 

A few students waited outside the door though the only person Sirius had seen at that moment was Snape. He was reading their potions textbook, mouthing the words to himself in a way that Sirius had found strangely endearing. 

Sirius walked over to Snape who was too distracted to even notice his presence. The Gryffindor frowned as he looked at what he was reading, Amortentia? Did Snape already fancy someone? Sirius tried to ignore the agitation that arose at that thought. Agitation because he had spent all this time trying to fit into Snape’s impossible standards, not for any other reason. 

“Aren’t we doing truth serum today?” Sirius asked, not trying to hide that he had been blatantly reading over the Slytherin’s shoulder. 

Snape jumped slightly before slamming his textbook shut and turning to face Sirius. His annoyed look quickly became confused as he took in the Gryffindor’s appearance. Onyx eyes looked Sirius up and down for a moment, making the Gryffindor feel oddly vulnerable. The Slytherin’s mouth opened and closed a few times as if he wanted to say something but then refrained. 

“Just because we’re doing Veritaserum doesn’t mean I can’t study other potions. NEWTs are this year, or did you forget?” He asked in a condescending tone. 

Sirius put on an easygoing smile but the corner of his lip twitched in agitation, “No, I didn’t forget. I was just curious. Shouldn’t be surprised that you’re already studying so early, you’ve always been driven. It’s one of your most attractive qualities,” he said. 

Unfortunately, Snape didn’t seem to hear the last part as he was distracted by Slughorn showing up and unlocking the door. He only replied to Sirius once they started making their way into class, “Well Black, some of us don’t have riches to fall back on.” 

Merlin, did he always have to be so damn snarky? “True, quite sad that the families we’re born into determine our path in life. Though, I suppose that it’s our choice whether to deviate from the path and pave a new one or follow the one that is already familiar. One is indubitably harder than the other, however,” he said, sitting next to Snape and hoping he used ‘indubitably’ correctly, he heard Moony say it once in a similar context. 

The Slytherin huffed, “Well that’s certainly an interesting way of putting–,” he cut himself off and gave Sirius a questioning look, “Why are you sitting–” 

Before he could continue his sentence Slughorn interrupted, “Ah good, you found someone Mr. Snape! I was going to ask that you partner up with another student as Ms. MacDonald is unfortunately sick today,” Snape was about to protest but Slughorn already turned away from him to address the class, “Today we’re brewing Veritaserum, as it takes a lunar cycle to complete we unfortunately won’t be able to test them until much later. So today I will only be grading on physical aspects. Follow the directions in your journal and if you have any questions, feel free to ask!” he said as he returned to his desk, sitting down with a huff. 

Snape glared at Sirius, “If you mess this up for me I’ll—” 

“Relax Snape, I’m actually quite adept at potions myself I must concur,” He said. Merlin, he was sounding pretty fancy right now, if Snape wasn’t looking at him he’d give himself a pat on the back. 

The Slytherin gave him a strange look, “I…Okay, just– just do exactly what I tell you to do,” He said, straightening himself as if waiting for a spat to occur. 

Sirius just smiled, “Okay, I’ll start by retrieving the ingredients if you don’t have any objections.” 

“Just go get the bloody ingredients Black,” Severus hissed. 

The Gryffindor grabbed the list and went to the cupboard, scowling once his back was turned to Snape. While grabbing the ingredients he ran into James, “Pads! Since MacDonald is sick I got to partner with Evans!” he whispered. 

“Bully for you,” Sirius said bitterly as he grabbed a jar of Billywig wings. He didn’t even notice that the two of them had paired up, he was too distracted dealing with the sour Slytherin. 

Sirius felt bad for being snappy at his mate but who could blame him? James got all of the reward without doing any of the dirty work! He didn’t have to do the seemingly impossible task of charming the git, he didn’t have to completely change himself, and he didn’t have to take insults without being able to defend himself. Sirius grabbed the last of his ingredients and stalked off to their table, ignoring the hurt and confused look that spread on James’s face. 

He placed the ingredients down on the table that Snape had already set. It seemed that while Sirius was doing his task the Slytherin had retrieved the instruments that they would be needing. The Gryffindor halted as soon as his eyes landed on Snape, his hair was up. The Slytherin had only ever put his hair up a few times during potions and every time Sirius was too far away to really see anything. 

It was strange, being able to see the Slytherin’s face as his curtain of hair usually covered most of it. Sirius’s eyes trailed up the pale expanse of Snape’s neck and landed on a stray freckle. It was on the left side of his neck at the midway point between his jaw and shoulder. Sirius had thought it was in the perfect place for a love bite. Almost immediately visions passed in his head of him doing just that and he pushed them away just as quickly as they appeared. 

Snape looked over at him, an expression that was a mixture of concern and annoyance flashed on his face, “Why are you just standing there?” he asked. 

“Your hair’s up,” he dumbly pointed out. 

Snape raised a brow, “Riveting observation Black. You should put yours up too,” he said, adding the last part more as an offhand remark than anything.  

Sirius’s eyebrows furrowed, “Why?” 

The Slytherin rolled his eyes, “We’re working with alcohol, it takes high temperatures to boil.” he pointed out. 

“Oh– yeah,” he then looked at his wrists and patted his pockets, he had forgotten to bring a tie. He usually brought one but it didn’t even cross his mind as he was too preoccupied with making himself look nice for Snape. 

Snape dug in his pocket and fished out another tie, “Here,” he said, shoving it into his hands. 

“Oh! Thank you!” Sirius replied, shocked at the kind gesture though the Slytherin’s cold demeanour sucked any warmth out of the interaction. 

“No need, I always keep two,” he mumbled as he measured out the ingredients. 

Sirius tried to hide his smile as he put his hair up, maybe class wouldn’t be too bad. “I’ll crush the Billywig wings,” Sirius said as he saddled up next to Snape who only gave him a nod in return and slid him the weighed-out portion. 

He diligently crushed the wings into a fine powder, wanting to impress the Slytherin with his technical skills. In the corner of his eye, he watched as Snape handled the rest of the prepping, pouring the alcohol and potioning water into the cauldron and lighting the flame to be just warm enough to begin steaming. 

There was a serene expression on his face while he was completing the tasks. Sirius thought that it suited him. Unfortunately, the expression soured as he looked over at one of the tables. Sirius followed his gaze just in time to see James transfigure his quill into a hair tie for Lily who had seemingly forgotten to bring her own. 

Sirius glanced at Snape’s expression once more, he didn’t necessarily look angry just more hurt than anything. The Gryffindor hated that look on him, wanting to change it he decided to distract him, “Hey Snape, what’s your favourite potion ingredient?” He asked, trying to start a conversation. 

Sirius’s plan seemed to work as Snape looked away from the Gryffindors’ table and over at him, “What bloody question is that?” he asked. 

“Just curious,” he shrugged, “I am personally partial to Dittany myself.” 

Snape grabbed the Valerian root and started to chop it into precise cubes, “figures you’d pick that one.” 

Sirius, who was already done with his task, moved closer to the Slytherin, “What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, a frown on his face. How was the Slytherin going to turn potion ingredients into an insult? 

“Nothing, it’s just that Dittany has got to be the most Gryffindor plant out there,” He said, dropping the chopped Valerian root into a flask filled with water. 

He felt himself smile, “Because of the fire?” he asked. 

Snape huffed, “That and the fact that it’s used in nearly every branch of magic. It has to be the centre of attention.” Sirius was too amused to really mind the insult to his house. 

“Yeah? Well since you have such a strong opinion on it, what’s your favourite ingredient?” 

Snape paused for a moment before surprisingly answering, albeit quietly, “Asphodel.” 

The plant needed for Draught of Living Death, what a bloody surprise. “Figures you’d pick that plant.” 

The Slytherin raised a brow, challenging him, “How so?” he asked. 

“It’s nice to look at and so are you,” he said, giving Snape a small smile. 

The compliment had an opposite effect on Snape than what Sirius was going for. His expression became closed off, completely severing the conversational air between them as he returned to his task. Fuck, Sirius had wanted to kick himself for mucking it all up and ruining the mood. 

All Sirius could do was watch as he added the liquid from the Valerian root and stirred the mixture until it was completely incorporated. He couldn’t understand the strange dance that the two of them were doing right now. He’d pull Snape in and the Slytherin would let him until he said something arbitrary that made him pull away. It was all so complicated. 

Snape turned around and reached over Sirius to grab the ground-up wings. That’s when he spotted another thing that was usually hidden behind Snape’s hair. It was a small hole in his lobe where an earring would be, “You have your ears pierced?” Sirius asked before thinking. 

Snape pulled away once he retrieved the mortar with the wings and turned back to the cauldron, sprinkling the powdered wing evenly on the surface of the liquid before stirring again. While he wanted Snape to tell him he did a good job he supposed that his lack of insults was enough of a compliment for someone like the Slytherin. 

“No, I just decided to poke holes in them for fun,” he finally bit out. 

“Merlin! No need to be so defensive! I just didn’t take you to be the type that likes that sort of thing,” he said. It was true, he didn’t. Snape had seemed like the type of guy to favour practical over looks when it comes to fashion or anything of the sort. 

“Well, I didn’t take you to be the kind of guy that would be so bothered by it.” 

It was Sirius’s turn to get defensive, “I’m not bothered by it! I’m just curious…what made you get them?” he asked. 

Snape turned around, sending him a sharp glare, “If I tell you, do you promise to be quiet for the rest of class?” he hissed. 

Sirius opened his mouth to reply but then thought against it and nodded instead. He knew that James would be upset that he ‘blew’ another chance to charm the Slytherin but his curiosity outweighed his need to please his mate. 

Snape was silent for a few moments, Sirius was almost sure that he wasn’t going to say anything until he finally spoke up, “A few years back Lily had wanted to get her ears pierced. She made me go with her but right when the needle was about to go through she started freaking out, to calm her down I offered to get mine done so she could see that it wasn’t that bad,” He shrugged. 

The Gryffindor was shocked at the confession, he could never imagine a Slytherin let alone Snape doing something kind for a Gryffindor without any hidden motivation. If he hadn’t known that Snape was not attracted to her he would’ve claimed that as his motivation. He had wanted to tell him that the story was sweet but remembered the deal he made and kept to his word. 

The two kept on task for the rest of class, Snape giving Sirius orders and Sirius diligently following them. They took turns stirring once the heat became too much for the other to bear. It had taken a while but it was all worth it when the potion turned clear and the two shared a smile. A smile that once Snape realised it was Sirius he was giving it to quickly disappeared from his face. The Slytherin then waved down Slughorn to check in on their potion. 

The Slytherin professor made his way over to them, grabbing a spoon off their desk and bringing it close to his face to observe. “Colourless,” he mumbled to himself before bringing the utensil to his nose and giving it a quick sniff, “and odourless, great job Mr. Black, Mr. Snape, five points to each of your houses! Just charm your potion and then you’ll be free to leave,” he said before walking over to another group who was waving him down. 

Sirius tried to catch Snape’s eye again to possibly recreate the moment from before but Snape ignored him. Instead, the Slytherin started cleaning their station and swiftly packed his things before rushing out the door. Following suit Sirius shoved his belongings in his bag and went after the Slytherin. 

His quick pace turned into a slow walk as soon as his eyes landed on Snape’s back. The git’s backside was becoming a familiar sight to Sirius. One that if asked, he could draw from memory. Though he wasn’t complaining, while he didn’t like the bat, he could admit that he had looked nice from the back. There were far too many times that Sirius found himself checking someone out just for them to turn around and find that it had been Sniv he was looking at. He had never told his mates as he knew that they would never let him live that down. 

“Stop following me Black,” Snape hissed, not even bothering to turn around. 

Sirius cut the distance between them, “Who said I’m following you? That’s preposterous! I’m just going to the library to study for my NEWTs,” he lied, hoping that he had sounded studious. 

Snape let out a frustrated sigh. Instead of taking offence, Sirius used the gesture as an opportunity to flirt with the Slytherin. 

“Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs,” Sirius replied. 

The Slytherin glared at him, “You’re quoting Romeo and Juliet at me? Really?” 

“Is it working?” He asked hopefully. 

“You do know it’s a tragedy right?” Snape pointed out. 

Sirius shrugged, “Still romantic is it not? Two lovers on opposite sides and all of that.” He was going to point out that the two of them were sort of on opposite sides themselves, being from rival houses and all. However, remembering how the story ended he thought against making that comparison. 

“They were foolish, the ending wouldn’t have happened if Romeo wasn’t a complete dunce. It’s more infuriating than romantic,” Snape replied. 

“Well then, which of his plays do you deem romantic enough to quote to you?” Sirius asked. 

“The Winter’s– no you’re not quoting anything else to me you prat,” Snape said as soon as he processed the last part of Sirius’s question. 

Sirius was about to try and convince him otherwise but they had already made it to the library. Snape didn’t even say goodbye, instead, he instantly made a beeline towards the shelves. Sirius didn’t let this deter him however and decided to follow him. He chose to ‘peruse’ the shelves on the other side of the ones Snape was looking at. The Gryffindor could see him through the gaps of shorter books on the shelf. 

The Slytherin’s brows furrowed as he read the spines of every book, slowly walking forward as he searched. Sirius closely followed him as he walked but made sure to stay a pace behind so he wouldn’t notice him. 

Once they made it to the end of the shelf Snape cursed, “Shite, it’s in the restricted section,” he mumbled to himself. 

Finding this to be an opportune time, Sirius moved into Snape’s isle. Leaning against the side of the shelf he asked, “You need something from the restricted section?”

Snape jumped slightly, “Fuck! Stop doing that Black!” he said somehow managing to yell at him while whispering. 

“My bad, what do you need from the restricted section?” he asked. 

He raised a brow, “I don’t see how that’s any of your business Black,” Snape hissed out.

Sirius stepped closer, forcing Snape to look up at him, “Well you see Snape, I know how to get into the restricted section. Now what’s the title of the book?” he asked, his words husky from talking so low. 

Snape seemed a little taken aback, his eyes peeling away from Sirius’s as he tried to think. Sirius watched as Snape bit his bottom lip, he knew that it was because he was torn on what to say but Sirius couldn’t help but find it strangely erotic. “I need a book on curses,” he admits, breaking Sirius out of his daydreaming. 

The Gryffindor had to suppress all his snarky remarks about Snape being a lover of dark magic. Instead, he nodded, “What’s the title?” he asked, hoping his tone was casual enough to not deter the Slytherin from opening up to him. 

“Erm, Compulsion Curses and Other Dark Magic,” he said, his tone a bit embarrassed. 

Sirius gave another nod, “I’ll be back with it in ten minutes. Just– stay here,” he said, casually backing out of the aisle before running in a full sprint to the Gryffindor Tower once he was out of Snape’s line of sight. He needed Prongs’s invisibility cloak to sneak into the section. He’s sure James would allow it since it had some aid in their plan. If he could get Sniv this dark book then the git would be more likely to trust him and thus more likely to say yes to a date. 

The book was… problematic to say the least. That along with the love potion he was looking at earlier solidified one thing in Sirius’s mind, the git fancied someone. Sirius couldn’t let that happen, he had worked so hard to try and win Snape’s affection and he didn’t want that all to go down the drain now. He also didn’t want to tell James about this discovery, he knew that his best mate would suggest that he help Snape get with whomever was the object of his affection. Sirius for some reason that even he himself couldn’t explain, didn’t want that to happen. The thought of the git with someone made his stomach twist. Maybe it was because he was evil and Sirius had felt bad for whoever he’d end up with. Yes, that was precisely the reason!

Sirius barged into the common room, running up the stairs before swinging open their dorm’s door. He ignored the concerned questions from Peter as he rummaged through James’s trunk to find his cloak. Once his fingers felt the invisible fabric he grabbed it, “Sorry Wormtail, no time to explain,” he said before quickly heading back to the library. 

He scanned the titles until his eyes caught the familiar words that Snape had told him. He grabbed the book, it had looked just as nefarious as it had sounded. The book was completely black with silver lettering being the only pop of colour. It was also extremely worn, the cover being marred with scuff marks and the pages nearly orange. 

 Sirius returned to where Snape originally was, surprised that he was waiting for him. The Slytherin’s eyes widened when he saw what Sirius was holding, “I- wha- How did you get it?” he asked, astonished. 

The look on his face had made the whole hassle worth it, “I’m afraid that a magician never reveals his secrets,” he said with a dramatic flair as he bowed, presenting the tome to the Slytherin. 

Snape rolled his eyes while grabbing for the book. Sirius took note of the fact that there was a hint of amusement in it, however. 

He decided that was a sign that he could push for more, “May I walk you to your dorm?” he asked. 

“No,” Snape quickly replied, clutching the book to his chest as if he was afraid that Sirius would take it back.  

“Must I beseech you, Snape? I had just risked my livelihood for your precious literature!” He said, hoping his smart talk would charm the snake. 

“Ugh, fine just– stop talking like that, you’re giving me a headache,” he grumbled as he headed out of the library. 

Sirius quickly followed after him. Sirius knew that Snape had only asked him to stop talking like that because he was getting too hot and bothered. He couldn’t really blame him though he wished that the Slytherin would be honest with himself instead of playing hard to get. It would really make this chase a lot easier. 

Their walk had been silent though Snape had given Sirius a few quick glances. Merlin, he was so obvious though his ‘sneaky’ looks were rather adorable. He was probably thinking of ways to tell Sirius that the feeling was mutual. 

When they made it to the dungeons Sirius had expected Snape to confess then. Instead, the Slytherin had said a quick and biting “bye,” while walking to the Slytherin entrance. 

“Wait!” Sirius said, forcing Snape to turn around, “Aren’t you supposed to give me something?” he asked incredulously. 

Snape’s brows furrowed as if he were trying to think about what Sirius could possibly be meaning. “Erm..thanks?” he tried. 

“I think it would be sufficient to go to Hogsmeade with me as payment for getting that book for you,” Sirius argued. 

Snape’s confused face quickly turned into a scowl, “I already let you escort me to my dorms for doing that, you can’t just ask for something else on top of it.”

Taken aback Sirius argued, “But! I- a walk is nothing, I could’ve gotten in deep trouble for you!”

Snape stepped closer, his onyx eyes bore into Sirius’s making him lose his breath, “Well Black, you should learn to be a better negotiator.”

Sirius was left dumbfounded as Snape turned and went through the Slytherin common room, the wall shutting him out again in an all too familiar way. He tried to calm the sudden rapid beating of his heart. Sirius couldn’t wait to brag to his mates about how close he was to getting Sniv to crack.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Severus sat in bed scowling at the words on the page in front of him. None of the curses he had read thus far pertained to his situation. At first, he had thought that it might’ve been Amortentia but the symptoms were far too mild to be from that. 

“Why are your eyes burning holes into that innocent book?” Severus looked up to see Regulus standing by the door with his arms crossed. 

Severus looked back at the tome, turning the page to read up on the next curse, “Why are you here?” he asked, his tone unintentionally biting due to his sour mood. 

“You skipped dinner,” Regulus said before stepping further into the room, “what’s got you pissed this time?” he asked. 

He flipped to the next page, “Your brother,” he mumbled. 

Regulus scoffed like he always did at the mention of his older brother, “Of course, what did he do this time?”

Severus paused his reading for a moment, trying to find the best way to explain it. “He’s acting… strange. I think there’s something seriously wrong with him,” he replied. 

The younger Black gave a short huff of laughter, “Well, I could’ve told you that,” He quipped and then gave a quizzical look to the book he was holding. “Where did you get that? I don’t remember seeing it in the library.” 

Regulus moved to sit on the bed next to Severus to get a better look. Severus showed him the cover of the book, “It was in the restricted section,” he explained.

Regulus’s eyebrows furrowed as he brought his hand to cover, lightly trailing his fingers over the engravings, “How’d you get into the restricted section?” he asked. 

“I didn’t, your brother did,” Severus said. 

Grey met black as Regulus looked at Severus to see if he was serious, “Sirius got you a book from the restricted section?” he asked in an astonished tone. 

Severus nodded in reply. 

Running his hand through his curls Regulus let out a heavy sigh, “Merlin, there is something wrong with him.” 

“I’m going to force Pomfrey to check for any signs of a concussion. If that doesn’t produce any results I’m going to go with the theory that he’s under a very dark curse,” Severus explained. 

“Is it really that severe?” Regulus asked. 

“Have you seen him Reg? He’s completely different! Appearance and personality-wise. He’s saying things that don’t make any sense. He’s shoving big words in sentences and is oftentimes using them wrong, he got easily winded retrieving this book for me, and when he dropped me off I looked at his eyes, they were extremely dilated! Have you heard anything about him getting hit in the head during a Quidditch match or possibly falling off his broom?” he asked. He avoided telling Regulus about his brother's incessant flirting and asking him out as it was way too embarrassing to admit. 

Regulus shook his head, “No I haven– wait did you just say that he walked you to your dorm?” 

Severus completely sat up, “He insisted Reg!” he said. 

“And you allowed him to?” He asked, a hint of agitation in his voice.

Severus scoffed, “Well I’m going to be at least civil. Haven’t you been taught that you’re not supposed to be rude to the sick or dying?” That's why he had been so bloody cordial with the dolt. There were many times he had wanted to yell at or strangle him but he felt too bad to follow through. 

The rich pure-blood turned a little more sympathetic, “You think it’s that bad?” he asked. 

The two of them talked well into the night about their theories on what may have happened to the Gryffindor. From physical injuries to possible possessions, there was only one thing they knew for sure. 

Something very terrible must’ve happened to the Gryffindor.