Discoveries
Severus laid on the green carpet, his head throbbing. He could barely remember anything as his eyes opened and everything was a blur. He could hear a faint voice… Wait, voice?
The black haired boy quickly sat up and panicked to look around to the source of the room. He couldn’t see anyone.
He sighed a breath of relief.
“Ssso you’re alive.”
His head jerked as he heard the serpenty voice. He slowly looked down at his side, and gulped as he saw the black mamba. The source of voice came from the snake.
The snake slithered up his arm, as he sat still as a stone. He was confused why he was still alive- the snakebite should’ve permanently knocked his lights out. Maybe the snake wasn’t as lethal as he thought it was? How useless.
Or maybe, he couldn’t die unless it was Nagini’s bite.
Oh dear Merlin.
If he wanted to die, he had to encounter that atrocious snake in order for her to bite him. Unfortunately for him, Nagini was practically attached to Lord Voldemort’s hip, so if he wanted to encounter that snake he had to meet that psychopath. The Dark Lord would probably Crucio him to insanity before letting Nagini eat her fill.
Suddenly, Severus developed a will to live. Maybe living wasn’t so bad after all.
“You have a ssstrange ssscent,” the snake said as he curled around his arm, disturbing the boy’s train of thoughts, “Almossst like you’re a sssnake.”
Severus paused for a second, processing what he just heard.
“You can talk?” The boy asked with disbelief.
The snake froze and looked up, with its wide ebony eyes, “You can underssstand me?”
The gears in Severus’ head clicked. He somehow became a parselmouth. Was it from the snake’s venom injection, which he miraculously survived? Or was it somehow tied to the snakebite he received from his past life?
He had so many questions, but no answers.
“A Parssselmouth! How wonderful!” The snake tightened his grip on the skinny boy’s arm.
Severus was getting creeped out by the snake as each second passed. “You were conjured today, how do you know what a Parssselmouth is?”
“I wasssn’t conjured sssilly, you jussst made my ssspirit corporeal!”
Oh. So he hadn’t conjured a snake, and somehow twisted the spell to make a snake spirit corporeal? That was impressive.
“Um… Can you become a spirit again?”
“Yesss of courssse!”
The snake suddenly disappeared from plain sight, but Severus could see a faint transparent glow, like light reflecting from the water.
“You jussst gave me the ability to become corporeal!” The snake said happily as it floated in the air, “But not without a cost.”
“What cost?”
“We’re contracted together!” It said with a cheerful enthusiasm, “Our souls are tied together!”
“...”
Severus was not an animal person at all. He couldn’t forget the times he was harassed and chased by the Marauders’ in their Animagus form. They relished on his unhappiness and terror, and any connection to them had in fact made him tremble with terror.
Maybe that was why he relentlessly bullied Harry Potter and his friends. They were a reflection of the Marauders, Especially Harry, and he couldn’t stand to see them happy.
“I once had another contractor. He lived in thisss room,” the snake sighed sadly, “Unfortunately, he passsed.”
The lanky boy perked up, “Your previous contractor, do you remember their name?” He asked curiously. Maybe the snake could give him a clue to the mysterious room.
The snake paused for a moment, “Sssorry I can’t remember a lot. Thisss isss the firssst time I’ve been awakened in a long time.”
Although the boy was a bit disappointed, he understood. There were more important matters anyway.
“How long was I lying there for?”
“Around 12 hoursss. You alssso ssseemed like you were really dead. I wasss going to eat you if you didn’t wake up.”
It was around 11 a.m when he entered the room, so it must be past 11 p.m. Which was past curfew.
Severus groaned. He didn’t want to get caught by Filch and his nasty feline friend.
Luckily, there was a bathroom and bed in the room. He could prepare to sleep in this room. It was really the Room of Requirement. He was like a haunting ghost in Slytherin anyways, so no one would notice whether he was there or not.
⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒
In the Gryffindor dormitories, four boys conspired while huddled on a singular bed.
“Why are we doing this on MY bed?” James scowled.
“I like your bed the best. Plus, I like your griffin plushie.” Sirius said as he hugged the stuffed animal.
“Can I go back to my bed?” Remus asked tiredly. He had just finished his Werewolf transfromation, and just wanted to rest.
“No, we need to plot this Moony. You’re the brain of the group, you can’t go!” James exclaimed, “You’re the one who also casted the Muffliato charm.”
“Prongs, I’m flattered but I’m not helping you plot to torture Severus.”
“Moony, pleaseeee.”
Remus held his ground, “No, I won’t help you plot. I’ll be there, but don’t expect me to help.”
Sirius shrugged, “Alright, be a party pooper.”
His face was met with a pillow, aggressively thrown by Remus.
“Just because I don’t want to join in your foul games doesn’t make me a party pooper,” he said darkly, “I don’t want to join in torturing someone.”
Sirius sneered, “Don’t act like a saint, you let us do whatever to Snivy. If you really cared, you wouldn’t be turning a blind eye.”
Remus had no response and just ignored the boy. He knew he was being overly sensitive, due to his bad mood.
“Come on guys, we can’t be arguing. Don’t let Snivellus get between us,” James pouted.
“Y-yeah, we need to p-plot his downfall!” Peter added.
Sirius sighed, and looked up. “Alright then. Everyone but Moony, what are we thinking? Any ideas to get Snivy to the Forbidden Forest?”
“Maybe we can just k-kidnap him!” Peter said with a glimmer in his eyes.
James rolled his eyes and patted the stubby Gryffindor on his head, “No Wormtail, we want to come there voluntarily.”
“Ohhhh.”
“Maybe we can spread a rumor that there’s a pot of gold hidden in the Forbidden Forest. The boy’s so poor he’ll come running to look for it, ” Sirius suggested.
“And have a bunch of other people go to the Forbidden Forest as well?” Remus scoffed.
As the other three boys bickered about whose plans were better, James sat there in a deep thought. This plan was difficult, since he needed something that was like a fisher’s bait, that reeled in the fish.
Something like bait.
There was exactly something that would be bait for Severus. Excited, James lit up. “I have an idea,” James piped up.
The other three boys stopped their bickering, and turned their full attention to him.
Sirius knew that James usually had the worst ideas ever, so he never took him seriously.“Please grace us with your wonderful idea!” He said sarcastically.
“Maybe we can lure him to the forest with Lily.”
Everyone paused.
Sirius put his hand on Jame’s shoulders and shook him, “Prongs, did you drink an intelligence booster potion? That’s bloody genius!”
Remus nodded in agreement, “I agree, but how exactly are you going to use Lily to get him in the forest?”
James scratched his head, “Maybe we can get Lily to deliver a letter asking to meet her in the Forbidden Forest to him.”
“Ohhhh you’re so smart,” Peter said as he looked at James with awe.
“For once,” Sirius joked.
“Buzz off Padfoot,” the messy haired boy laughed. “I just don’t know if Lily would agree to do it. She’s too nice.”
“Yes, but she hates Snivy now. He was a constant eyesore leeched onto her.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I mean, she ditched him without a thought when he called her a mudblood. Personally, if any of you were in that situation and I was Lily, I wouldn’t ditch you immediately. Snivy was a burden to Lily, and she got out when she could. Can’t blame the girl.”
“Wow Padfood… I never knew you were so insightful,” Remus said with a smirk.
“Intelligence is one of my charms, how could you not know that?”
The four boys burst into laughter. They were in high spirits, since they had their plan set and ready to put into motion.