Chapter 10
“I knew you’d be here,” James said as he casually sat beside Snape.
Severina paused for a moment before resuming her writing. “What a surprise, you didn’t come here as a deer, did you get tired of eating grass? I’m curious what animal traits did you and your friends get, did become vegetarian? Or do you like salt licks now, do you shed your antlers? How about Pettigrew? You know what, don’t answer that, I can see why he is a rat. And what about Black does he randomly have the urge to chase Mrs. Norris around and bark at her or maybe a squirrel? If I tell him to sit, will he, do it for a treat? Will you be willing to be my test subject?” Snape asked as he looks at James.
“Ok, first of all, if you told Padfoot to sit, I bet he would bite you, Second I wish I didn’t tell you what we’re our animagus was.” James deadpans
“Oh, and third, before I forget, I brought you a sandwich and cherry pie since we had this for lunch, but you decided not to show up and eat again. Snape you got take care of yourself. You’re already malnourished enough; therefore, you took too long to wake up and recover.”
“What are you, my doctor?” The Slytherin scoffs, but still takes the food given
“Mostly people would say ‘thank you dad’ as an insult, but you didn’t have a good one.”
“I’m sorry, did you want me to call you dad?”
“Only in bed,” James said with a grin.
“You’re disgusting Potter! are you serious right now?”
“Actually, he’s in our dorm, most likely snogging Moony.”
“Merlin’s balls Potter! Just stop!”
“Ok, I will,” James said as he raises his hands in defeat.
Severina rolls her eyes and takes out her wand, points at her food, and says ‘Finite’
“Was that necessary?”
“Yes”
“What, you don’t trust me?”
“Is that so hard to believe? After all the things you and your friends have done to me?”
James stares at her then shrugs, “Touché”
“How’d you even know cherries were my favorite, was it Lily who told you?”
“No, your face just lits up when you eat it,” James said casually as he makes a little snowman in front of him.
“… I see… how… observant of you…” James just hums in reply. Severina is appalled to know that James even looks her way even before all this, he probably just tried to get to know her as he thinks of ways to humiliate her.
“Ta-da!” James proclaims, diverting Severina’s attention from her thought to what James was presenting. It was a little snow, both with different expressions; the first snowman had a sour expression on its face and the second one had a bright beaming smile plastered. The two little snowmen's twig arms were joined together to look like they were holding hands.
“Look! It’s you and me!” James said having the same expression as the second snowman—guess
the one with a mean-looking appearance is me then—Severina wanted to smile, but she doesn’t know what was the point of doing this, he was probably just playing with her.
“Potter will you just stop” Severina sighs
“Huh?”
“I meant with you and your constant flirting or teasing, if you want to compensate for what you did, well then will you please stop it? knowing that I liked you before must be humorous to you, or perhaps you decided to make amends by pitying me in one-sided feelings for you, is that it? Is this what you’re doing?"
“No! of course not!, why do you always jump to conclusions, I do want to amend things with you but I don’t do it by flirting with you, I do it because I love you!” Merlin, he finally admits it, to her and himself that he really likes this Slytherin woman, the dungeon bat, the potion prodigy, the one, and only Severina Snape.
Severina felt like she couldn’t breathe like she didn’t know how to do it. “You’re lying, just stop!” tears were starting well up in her eyes and James suddenly hugs her.
“I’m not, please believe me,” James whispers to her, Severina separates herself from James and stood up
“You don’t have to give me an answer now, but I want you to attend the party and maybe give me your answer there, it doesn’t even need to be on the 23rd it can be after the holiday as well, whatever suits you, but please don’t leave it hanging and say that you don’t believe me.” Severina just looks at him before leaving him behind with the snowmen.
“You did what!?” Sirius exclaims, the people boarding the train look at them strangely at the sudden outburst from one of the Marauders
“Sirius keep it down will you.” James tries to calm down Sirius to avoid more people looking at them.
“I can’t believe you! I thought you said you were going to think about it some more. It’s only been a few weeks since all these things happened and now, you’re saying you bloody confessed your love for her yesterday after you told us YESTERDAY as well that you still weren’t sure yet. Mate, are you sure you’re, okay?”
“I’m fine Sirius, stop it, I did think about it, I just didn’t fathom that I have been infatuated with Snape all this time and it was not Lily. For all the teasing and bullying that I did was just to get her attention.”
“And Lily?” Remus asked
“Turns out, I was just using her to get Severina to be jealous.”
“Wow! You’re an arse and you weren’t conscious of it for all these years.” Peter adds and opens the door to an empty compartment.
James groans, “You didn’t have to say it.”
“What did Severina say?” asked the werewolf as he puts his case at the top compartment.
“She said I was lying and was about to leave, I told her that I wasn’t and that she didn’t have to reply to my confession and just give it to me at the party or after the holidays.”
“I hope it takes her longer to reply. I know I said that I’ll accept your decision on this matter, but I just can’t help but hate her, she infuriating” Sirius sulks.
“You’ll get over it, we’re not children anymore.”
“Guess this means I win the bet.” Peter piped.
“What are you going to do now? “The redhead inquires; she takes a seat next to her Slytherin friend as the train starts to move.
“I don’t know, If I were being honest, I still don’t believe him. It’s… just impossible.”
“Is it though.”
“Let me ask you something Lily.”
“yes?”
“Did you plan this?”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“This! Potter confessing to me because I know you know that I like him.”
“I might have…”
“Lily!”
“No, Listen, when you were at the infirmary, I had a talk with Potter about everything that happened last year and what he was doing this past few weeks, I stormed off angrily at what he did but that gave me time to think about his actions towards you. And my conclusion is that he likes you as well, but he’s too much of a dunderhead that he hasn’t taken notice of it all these years.”
“Are you sure you’re not just setting us up just so he could stop bothering you?”
“Hey, it’s a win-win, you like him, he likes you, and he stops bothering me.” The Lioness argues.
“And you didn’t slip him any love potion?”
“I wish I did think of that before.”
Severina sighs, what if this all turns out to be just a huge joke and she’ll be a laughingstock at the party, she doesn’t know to want to do, but Potter won’t stop bothering her even after the Holidays.
Which was a better option anyways, to be shamed in front of noble who she doesn’t know but has a potential potion master that would never hire her after that happens, or at the school after the break in front of the whole school who she most likely won’t meet ever again but be remembered as the end of the marauder’s pranks.
The latter doesn’t sound so bad anyway since all of them already knew.
“Severina” the dark-haired girl stopped glaring at the floor and looked at her childhood friend.
“Stop worrying, I assure you it’s going to be ok.” Lily gives Severina a comforting smile and hands her a box wrapped in emerald parchment with a red ribbon.
“Here, I know it’s early I thought it might be useful if you decided to go.”
“I didn’t get you anything yet.” Severina hesitantly accepts the gift given to her.
“It’s fine, I don’t deserve anything from you after what I did, but I hope you’ll like what I got you.” Lily hugs her friend to convince her.
Severina pulls the ribbon, tears the wrapping carefully and opens the box, and pulls the content out to see
The dress was a tube with straps, it’s color was dark green and the texture of the fabric was silk with thorns and leaves as its intricated design, the skirt reaches just around her knee, and it was not too short, skimpy.
She looks at the box again to see a white winter coat to match her evening dress.
“Oh, Lily, I can’t accept this, this is too pretty, It wouldn’t suit me either.”
“Oh hush it, you are pretty and you would be more than just pretty if your father hadn’t punched you in the face, but don’t worry I can fix that for you, I had some lessons with Madam Poppy for a week, I know I should’ve just bought you to her, but I also know that you won’t agree.”
“Lily, I’m not going to spend hours, fluffing my hair and applying animal-tested makeup to just get dolled up for someone who will embarrass me.” Severina huffs.
“Just go with me on this please.” Lily pleads to her friend.
Severina pinched the bridge of her nose, “Fine”