Who is Who?
“SNIVELLUS!”
James turned his head in annoyance. Perhaps the worst part of being Snape... Don't let it show, James, don't let it show, my boy! Well, at least he didn't have to respond, right? At worst, they would say, 'Snape was scared,' but who said that was a bad thing? He quickly thought and decided that the best thing to do was to call out to Regulus. He was the most reasonable among the Slytherins and the only person with whom he had a conversation before. Plus, he was Sirius's brother. They seemed to get along with Snape as well.
“Welcome, Regulus!” he smiled with a Snape-like demeanor, at least he thought that is how Snape smiles. But judging by Regulus's eyebrows raised in surprise, smiling was not very Snape-like at all. Of course, Sirius, now growling in a manner resembling a rapid dog, had twisted the meaning of this smile into something else entirely.
“HA, ARE WE LAUGHING NOW, ARE WE? YOU HAD FUN LAST NIGHT, DIDN’T YOU?”
“ENOUGH!”
Madam Pomfrey and Carmen had shouted at the same time. And thanks to this mature(!) and peace making(!) behavior, the nurse allowed Carmen to join the group of those staying in the ward. The others had been sent out by waving wands. Madam Pomfrey, gesturing with her wand at Sirius, who was one of James's visitors, said:
"I will know it's you if I hear even a whisper! Don't make a sound!" She turned to the others. "And you too…"
As she was leaving, Snape, even though he would have enjoyed watching Black land another angry shot on Potter, felt the need to take control of the situation. That darned little inner voice telling him what needed to be done!
"Padfoot? Come here! Otherwise, I'll start thinking you came to visit Snape. Or did all the Gryffindors come today to visit our dear Slytherin friend?"
While saying this, he had given Carmen a meaningful look, as he should. Because Carmen, by registering herself as Snape's visitor, had surprised both the Gryffindors and Slytherins, as well as James and Severus, who appeared like each other while lying down. This situation had displeased both the Gryffindors and Slytherins. They clearly thought Carmen was contaminating their groups. Moreover, having six Gryffindors and four Slytherins in the room as visitors was not conducive to a potential fight. Nonetheless, Carmen was eager to support Snape.
“Are you okay, Severus?” she asked, ignoring what James (in actuality Snape) had just said. At the same moment, Lily turned to Snape and repeated a similar question;
“Are you okay, James?”
“Hmm, thanks, I’m fine!” both boys said simultaneously and with the same irritation.
Oh, dear Lily, how concerned you seem to be about dear Potter’s health?
Oh, dear Carmen, how concerned you seem to be about dear Snivellus’s health?
“What’s up, Prongs? Hearing strange rumours around? How is it, umm, like…” Remus waved his hand, trying to politely find the words to sum up James’s situation;
“I look terrible, don’t I?” Snape whispered. “Well, had a bit of an argument with Snape last night. But,” he added, casting a warning glance at Sirius who looked ready to jump onto the adjacent bed, “No problem! We sorted it out between us."
As the Slytherins looked at him as if they had seen Bloody Baron, Peter said;
“What?” He rolled off the end of the bed. “What do you mean? You..you sorted it out with him?”
“Yes,” Snape said in a defeated tone. “No problem. We'll deal with it later.” He winked at Sirius and Peter, hinting at something. Well, he had been a good enough James for now.
“But,” said Lily. “Well, um, Sn, mm, Snape, he, he didn’t seem like he was in a fighting mood that night.”
At Lily’s voice, all the muscles in Snape’s body that belonged to James twitched. Sn, Snape, huh? The fake Snape lying on the adjacent bed, for some reason, let out a loud, cheerful laugh (for some reason? He must have enjoyed being ignored in favor of Snape. Lily hadn’t asked about her sick, old friend's situation. She had said Sn. Snape instead. Snape!)
“Ah, I wasn’t that bad, I guess.” James displayed a smile larger than Snape ever could have in his whole life.
“Y…yes, he wasn’t." said Severus. "Uh, Joe?” Joe was the fifth visitor, besides Lily, Remus, Sirius, and Peter, and obviously the person least likely to push Snape's patience to its limits. “How does my nose look?”
“Uh, well good..” Joe scratched his head. Merlin!
***
“I brought you a box.”
“A box of what?” James said angrily. Remus, Sirius, Peter, and Lily, ah Lily, were the ones he should have been mingling with. But here he was, lying flat on his back, flirting with Sirius's girl!
“A box,” Carmen turned bright red. “of chocolate frogs. Well, I don’t know if you like them but…”
“I hate them!”
Carmen turned crimson. She had never actually seen Snape eating chocolate frogs before. Maybe she should try the every-flavor beans. If Snape didn’t like them…
“I love them!”
Carmen turned to Snape in surprise.
“Uh, well… Of course, I had brought a box for you too, James.” She placed the second box on the table next to Snape and kissed the boy forcefully on both cheeks. “Get well soon!”
Snape smiled reluctantly, a forced smile different from James's smile. But Carmen took it as a sign of his deeply hurt body. Poor boy, he must have been in pain. No one else from Gryffindor smiled at Carmen. Carmen didn’t stay there long either.
“Well, um, Se…Severus,” She left his box on his table. “I’m sorry you didn’t like them. Maybe next time…”
“Next time? Ha, should I get kicked around in the meantime? Maybe I should visit your tower more often?”
“No, no, that’s not what I meant.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I mean if I ever want to give a gift again…”
“Why would you be giving gifts again, Cypress?” James said with a coldness colder than ice. “I don’t like gifts.”
“But, I mean, gifts, mm, everyone likes them…”
“I hate them!”
No, Carmen! Don’t cry, my girl, it’s not worth it!
“Alright then, I’ll go!”
“Good idea!”
The girl, with her ice-blue eyes losing the fire within, headed towards the door.
“Get well soon, James.”
As she slammed the door behind her, she vaguely noticed James Potter’s fingers gesturing towards her. And then the door closed. Now she could cry her heart out.
***
"Finally, she left!” said James.
“Why did you treat her like that?”
James stared at Lily. Why was she interested in what Snivellus was doing? He should have grabbed and shaken her. But it should have been him doing it, not Snape. Damn!
“I acted the way I should!” he said, trying to cool his voice.
“Is that how it should be, really? You seemed to be having fun at the party, though?”
Yes, Lily, I had a lot of fun thanks to you. The kiss was nice too!
“It was at the party.” he said, pushing his thoughts aside. He could say them another time, in a more appropriate form, in his original form thank you very much. Maybe the atmosphere would be more romantic than the infirmary then.
“What’s it to you?” snapped Snape. “Why are you always trying to matchmake between Cypress and Snape? Do you have a stake in this?”
“Don’t be silly, James! I’m not meddling in anyone’s business. I was just wondering why our friend is behaving so horribly.”
“He’s not behaving horribly!” said Snape.
“Just the usual me.” said James. “I enjoy being nasty. It’s my nature.”
“No.” Snape hissed. “You’re acting as you should. Because Cypress is not right for you.”
“No, I think she's quite a catch.” said James with a disgustingly smug voice. “But I guess, I'm bored!”
Sirius’s face was all tensed up. But he wouldn’t strike the disgusting Snivellus. No, Carmen deserved this much! She had dared to flirt with Snape.
“He’s confused!” said Snape hurriedly. “I sent him a confusing spell last night. He doesn’t know what he’s saying!”
Potter the utter Bastard! You'll regret saying these words in front of Lily!
“I think you’ve just brought out his true nature, Prongs,” said Sirius.
“I think his face was already showing his true nature, Padfoot,” said Peter.
Even Remus and Lily giggled. But James Potter’s face was rigid with tension. Snape’s face, on the other hand, turned to the others with great joy;
“When is the next Quidditch match?”
“Uh, Sev,” said Mulciber in surprise. “I didn’t know you were interested in Quidditch.”
“Come on,” said James, trying to open the package of chocolate frogs. “Everyone who’s not a girl loves Quidditch.” He popped a frog into his mouth.
“We thought you didn’t like chocolate frogs just a moment ago, too?”
“I told Cypress that,” said James sweetly. The four Slytherins looked at each other in confusion.
“James? When are you going to hold the Quidditch tryouts?”
The chocolate frog got stuck in James’s throat. While he was busy coughing, Snape said;
“Tryouts?”
“I mean, since George and Martin can't play anymore, we're short a Keeper and a Chaser.” George and Martin were two brothers who played as Keeper and Chaser. In the last match, a rogue bludger had managed to crack each of their heads, and despite all pleas, their mother had forbidden them from playing Quidditch ever again. Even the Quidditch Team Posters in their room had ended up in the trash can, which belched and burped everything it ate. The screaming poster players were eagerly licked up and swallowed by the trash can. Since that day, the Gryffindor Team had been short two players. “Of course, if you want to change the rest of the team, that’s another matter!” The last sentence was spoken a bit coldly, as Joe himself was part of the remaining team.
“Ah, alright. We’ll do it after the holidays!”
“NO, YOU CAN’T!”
Six heads in the Gryffindor bed turned towards James. Avery whispered, in a way they couldn’t hear, “None of your business, man. They can hold tryouts whenever they want. Besides, we’re going to smoke them this year. Our team is really strong.”
While James was still busy spitting out the frog, he thought, yes, they’re going to smoke us, with a captain like Snivellus for Gryffindor. Sirius gave him one last look and then turned back to Snape. The meaning in that last look was clear. If you're lucky, the chocolate frogs will choke you before I do...
***
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