Going Home
When the door opened again, this time everyone looked angrily at the newcomer. Madam Pomfrey was muttering something about infirmary rules, while Snape couldn’t help but internally laugh. Li Yang, with her suitcase in hand, was beaming at Sirius!
"Li? Haven’t you left yet?"
"My dearest! My love! Did you think I would leave without saying goodbye to you?"
"Would she ever leave?" whispered Sirius, quietly into Snape's ear.
"Hello! Are you alright, James?" said Li. Then, as if they had been friends for forty years (even though James Potter hadn't even heard the name Li Yang before Sirius spontaneously asked her to the ball), she ran and hugged Snape’s neck. She kissed his cheeks three times. So much so that eventually Mr. Potter had to pull the girl off Snape. Snape’s nose had started to bleed, and all his pain and soreness had returned as intensely as at first. Thanks, Li! Still, he managed a strained smile.
"I was fine until a moment ago."
Li, not catching the implication in his words, nor realizing she had caused Snape pain, exclaimed:
“Oh my God, Jamsieeee… Your nose is bleeding!!!” With a look that suggested, ‘Isn’t it unfitting for you to lie there smiling while your nose is bleeding you dirty boy’ she pulled out a tissue from her bag. Luckily, Mr. Potter took the tissue before Li could lean over Snape again and started to apply it to Severus' bleeding nose.
***
James, ignoring Mrs. Snape, was watching the events on the adjacent bed with a slight smirk on his face. Well, getting rid of Li Yang was a small consolation prize compared to living in Snivellus's disgusting body. And what’s with this ‘Jamsie’ anyway? These girls come up with the most ridiculous nicknames for everything. For instance, even ‘Snivellus’ sounded more charismatic compared to a nickname like ‘Sevie’.
***
Sirius couldn’t believe what was happening. He was dating this girl, fucking dating her! And why was that? All because the disgusting Snivellus had messed with Carmen's mind. Yes, he had been foolish. Kissing the first girl he came across in a fit of spite wasn't exactly a stroke of genius. Now, he couldn’t even tell Li that he wanted to break up. Besides, everyone (except Li) was aware that his heart was actually set on Carmen. Perhaps Snape's triumphant smirk wasn't due to James's new appearance, but rather because of Sirius and Li's new love affair. If he was currently with this girl, Snape was solely to blame, and he was fully aware of the situation. Probably he was so brazen because his ever-so-stoic mother was with him. The audacity!
“What’s the matter, Snivellus?”
James blinked. He had been watching them for about two minutes, and Sirius had misunderstood the situation. How could he have guessed the truth? All of this was unbelievable, thanks to that one rat-faced Snape. Well then;
“Oh nothing… Nothing at all…”
“Ah, forget about him, Siriii...” Li bounced between them, much to James's delight. And Siri? Ahahaha, he would laugh about that later, of course. Poor Sirius! Trying to hide all his emotions, he watched the kissing couple (or more accurately, his friend being kissed by Li). Unfortunately, he struggled to make his face expressionless like Snape. Why would anyone keep their face so devoid of expression anyway? It was utterly foolish! Classic Snape. Regulus frowned and turned to him;
“What’s up with you?”
James bit his tongue. Not because he was afraid of Regulus suspecting him, but to stop himself from blurting out thoughts like ‘I’m such an idiot,’ ‘both a sniveling and pathetic man,’ ‘Sirius Black is right about anything he says about me. Inviting Carmen to the ball was a despicable idea. What does Carmen even see in me?’ or anything along those lines. Yes, all of these could be true, but it wouldn't be right to admit them to Regulus. Admitting them to his brother as soon as possible, well, that might be doable. But how? Sirius seemed like he was looking for a reason to tear him apart. For instance, he seemed ready to pounce on James in front of everyone just for looking his way. Either he was really upset about James or his mind was still on Carmen. James noticed, with a mix of discomfort and sarcasm, that the latter seemed more likely.
“Severus?”
“I don’t feel well,” James said after a moment's pause. “Er, a Confundus Charm. Potter has cast it on me and, as usual, did it perfectly. So my mind is a bit all over the place. When has it ever been otherwise, right?” Yes, this was good. Even Snape would probably say something like that.
“Other than that, you're okay, right? Come on, get up, I can't wait any longer.” Mrs. Snape grumbled, having done little else but grumble up until that point.
“WHERE TO?!” Severus yelled as loudly as he could manage. “I, I mean Po… oh, Snape isn’t going anywhere! He signed up to stay. He's staying here, isn't he?”
Eileen Snape slowly turned to her real son, giving him a look that lasted only a moment but managed to convey a ‘who do you think you are’ warning. Then, with the same dignity, she ordered James to be ready to leave within ten minutes.
James swallowed hard. He could never say no. Moreover, he was afraid of the woman. After all, though Snape was an unpleasant snivellus, he was her son, and thus she should have treated him well. At the very least, she should have shown some concern for him being ill, right? Perhaps the woman was just very frightened. Or maybe this was just the way their family was. They expressed their love and their worries in the same manner and with the same expression. And during this time, James noticed something else. This woman and Snape looked incredibly alike. The woman’s eyebrows were thicker, her nose smaller, but everything down to their expressions was strikingly similar to Snape (or currently, him). He was surprised he hadn't noticed it when she first walked in. He was so taken aback by this realization that he didn't even notice Regulus had left.
***
Great! James Potter was going to the Snape Manor! What a manor it was! But according to Sirius Black, there was no need to panic. They would corner Snivellus somewhere after the holiday. Look how beautiful life was. Even Li had left for now, oh what a relief. She wouldn't be around rest of the Christmas. She would send letters, of course, but there was the option of not opening them. That way, Li might cool off towards him. As if Snape cared about all this. Stupid Black! Always thinking of himself, ready to make that poor girl unhappy just to satisfy his own ego. No, you didn’t do the same thing to Carmen, that was different. Why was he even thinking about all this? Potter, the damned Potter, was going to their house! To their home, at Spinners End! Instead of staying here and finding a way out of this horrible nightmare, he was sailing into new nightmares. Moreover, Severus did not want James Potter to know things about him (things nobody else knew except Lily to a point), especially about his family. When Potter found out about his father, their living situation, and even the wonderful dialogue he has with his family, the thought of what Potter might say was almost suicidal. He would mock him. He would spread this to whole school. And it seemed he himself had to go with the Potters. The idea of spending a holiday with Black didn’t sound very appealing, but the Potters were good people. At least from what he observed at platform nine and three-quarters, they were an ideal couple, perfect parents. Now, if their son arrived home injured like this, who knew how much they would dote him on. Yes, it could be nice. Then he suddenly felt a terrible pain twisting inside him. Was he jealous??