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Both Horrible Bullies


The fourth year Slytherin dormitory was pitch black, the result of some charm Severus Snape had cast upon the room. He sat, pressed into the corner, his back against the wall, knees curled to his chest, feeling the pressure of silence close around him. If he concentrated on the silence - if he really listened to it - he could almost get out of his own head long enough to feel something that resembled peace. Or at least numbness, which was as close as it sometimes gets.

“Severus,” came a voice… and the door creaked open… a crack of light crawling across the thick blackness. “Lumos.” Regulus’s wand lit up and he held it out, illuminating his arm as he moved into the room, closing the door behind him. Severus kept his face buried in his knees, his long black hair hanging like curtains ‘round his face… Regulus lowered himself to a crouch right in front of Snape and moved the wand to illuminate his form. He stared at him. “Severus,” he whispered.

“Go away, Regulus.”

“But Severus --”

“I’m not hungry, I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t want you to sit here and feel sorry for me - okay? I don’t want you here. I don’t want you,” Severus snapped angrily. “Don’t make me curse you to make you leave. I will if I have to.”

Regulus was quiet a moment, staring into Severus’s face - his eyes almost challenging the other boy to go on and do it if he really meant it - but Severus just shook his head and pursed his face back into the arm he had draped across his knees.

“Lily Evans sent me up to get you,” Regulus said. When Severus didn’t move, he said, “She’s waiting for you in the corridor.”

Severus was very still.

“I mean, I can tell the filthy little mudblood to bugger off if you prefer ---” Regulus said, and he rose to his feet, knowing that would get a rise out of Severus. And he was right. Severus moved quickly to catch Regulus from going, clutching onto his robes with his balled fist.

Severus stared up at him. “She really sent you?”

Regulus decided stretching the truth a mite would be best. “Why else would I subject myself to your brilliant ray-of-sunshine personality right now? For the bloody fun of it?”

Severus drew a deep breath. “Evans really wants to see me?”

Regulus nodded, “Yes.”

Severus sat for another moment, then slowly uncurled himself and Regulus stood and held out his hand to help Severus to his feet as well. Severus followed Regulus out of the room, blinking at the brightness of the common room with eyes unused to anything but the dark at this point. The Slytherins in the common room looked up as Regulus came down the steps ahead of Severus, staring as though seeing a fantastic beast waltz through the center of their common room. Evan Rosier’s eyebrows were halfway up his forehead and he lowered the textbook he was reading. Severus kept his eyes turned to his feet.

“Welcome to the land of the living, Snape,” Rosier sneered, laughing and receiving a high-five from Goyle.

“Shut it,” snapped Regulus.

Rosier did shut it, but he took pause to glare at Regulus for a long moment first, before turning back to his book.

In the corridor, Regulus pulled the door closed and led Severus down to the bend by the prefects bathroom and Severus’s heart skipped a beat when he saw her standing there in a semi-circle of torchlight, leaning against the wall, her hair pulled to hang over one shoulder as she stared down at her bitten nails… Regulus hadn’t been lying. Lily Evans wasn’t a bit of his imagination or an apparition. She was really here, in the hall.

Suddenly Severus couldn’t hold back - he broke into a short run, and she looked up as he brushed by Regulus, and stood and she held out her arms. “Oh I heard, I just heard,” she said even as he collapsed into her, burying his face into the crook of her shoulder and started to cry.

Regulus hesitated, hanging back, feeling like what he was seeing was indecent. Crying, after all, was weak - that’s what he’d always been told - and Severus Snape was the strongest person Regulus knew… It confused him, seeing them locked together like that, seeing Severus as anything but stoic and straight faced had been confusing him for the past couple days now… and hugging a muggle girl… oh Walburga Black would have a fit, she’d tell Regulus to stay away from Severus Snape, she’d tell him that Severus Snape was not the sort of person that you want to have as your best mate - a half-blood who was in love with a muggle girl and cried in the halls! - but Regulus couldn’t help but feel that maybe Severus was exactly the sort of person to be best mates with.

“We’ll be alright, Reg,” whispered Lily, and she looked about, “Is there a toilet about here some place that we could go to for some privacy?”

“Prefects toilet right there,” Regulus answered.

Lily thought of the Marauders and their first year adventures that had surrounded that now legendary prefect’s toilet and smiled to herself. “Do you know how to get in?” she asked.

Regulus shook his head, “It’s password protected. Dunno the password unless you’re a prefect.”

“It’s Salazar,” muttered Severus into her shoulder. “Malfoy told me it once.”

“Well there we are,” Lily smiled. “Thank you Regulus. We’ll be alright.” She carefully led Severus toward the prefect toilet door and turned back to nod at Regulus. “Salazar,” she told the door handle and there was a satisfying click of the locks and Regulus watched as Lily Evans and Severus Snape went inside and closed the door behind them.

Regulus stood there in the hall a moment, sorting himself out, and once he’d gathered himself up, he turned to head back to the common room and was nearly to the bend in the hall when he heard -- “Expelliarmus!” -- and his wand flew from his loose gripped hand. Turning about, there was James Potter, flanked by the two girls who had been sitting with Lily in the library. “Where is she?” James demanded, “Is she with him already?”

Regulus said, “She who?” in a sneer.

“Don’t play that line, Black,” snapped Marlene, “You know exactly who.”

“Yeah, Black, where are they?” Emmaline demanded.

James still had his wand leveled at Regulus, Regulus’s wand in his other fist.

Regulus rolled his eyes, “Give me back my wand, you prat, and let Lily Evans be. She chose to see Snape, and it’s not any of you lot’s business where they went or what their matter is.” He held out his hand for the wand.

“Where. Is. She.” James said slowly, deliberating over every word. “She ought not to be alone with a snake like Snape.”

Regulus pushed his hand at James. “My wand. Now.”

“Tell me where she is and I’ll give you your little stick back,” James snarled.

“She’s in the prefects toilet, where they can’t be bothered by idiots like you,” snapped Regulus, “Now give me my bloody wand. Now.”

James threw the wand past Regulus, making him turn to fetch it, and turned to the prefect’s toilet door. “Salazar,” he said to the door and the locks clicked…

“Alium!” Regulus shouted and the spell slapped James’s hand away from the handle with a force that made James take a step back. “Leave them be!” Regulus started toward them.

“Go away, you little toad,” said James and he waved his wand, “Flipendo!” and Regulus was thrown backward down the hall so that he landed a few feet away, sprawled on his back on the dark green carpet.

“Stupefy!” he shot a the spell at James.

“Protego!” James said and a shield broke between them, sending the stunner back at Regulus as he tried to struggle from his back, striking him, and knocking him out. Marlene and Emmaline lowered their wands, which they’d lifted in case they needed to step in to back James up. “Knocked out by his own bloody stunner,” James rolled his eyes. “Bloody intelligent, that one is…” he looked at the girls, “You lot keep him there. I’m getting our girl.”

Marlene nodded, “Call out if you need back up.”

James shoved open the prefect toilet’s door.

At the sinks, Lily was gently washing Severus Snape’s red, tear-soaked face with a plush green hand towel. She looked up - expecting Regulus but seeing James, her jaw dropped. “Potter, what’re you doing here?” she demanded.

Severus’s muscles tightened and Lily looked down at him where he was vulnerably leaning over the sink, his face a mess from the crying… She put her hand on his spine, protective. “There’s nothing to see here. You go back to being a lay about with your mates.”

James had his wand up. “You shouldn’t be alone with him, Evans,” he replied, “Not without a guard. There’s no telling what that slithering Slytherin could do - no telling what he would do…”

“Do?” Lily repeated, “He isn’t going to do anything, Potter.”

James didn’t lower his wand.

“If this is supposed to be some sort of chivalrous display, then you can knock it off now,” Lily snapped.

“I’m not leaving you alone with that filthy-headed, lying little prat,” James said, “The curses he knows! And he has no inhibitions when it comes to getting what he wants. Typical Slytherin. You know, I’m not even surprised that he stooped as low as to lie about his mother being dead.”

Severus’s hands tightened on the sink basin.

“He’s not lying,” Lily said heavily.

“Sure he’s not,” James replied, rolling his eyes.

Lily snapped, “People don’t lie about things like this, Potter, not good people.”

“You’re right, Evans. Not good people. But bad people -- well, they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want out of others. And Severus Snape is bad people.”

Having enough, Snape whirled about, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!” he bellowed, “YOU DON’T KNOW BLOODY ANYTHING ABOUT ME!” He drew his wand.

“No!” Lily shouted, “No! Both of you -- stop it!”

“And there’s it is,” James laughed haughtily. “On Snivellus, your true colours are showing.”

“You really have nothing better to do, Potter, than to bully me around?” Snape demanded.

“I’m protecting Evans from you,” James retorted, “Keeping her safe from you before you attack her.”

“ATTACK her?!” Severus guffawed, “Like I said -- you don’t know what you’re talking about! If either of us were to attack her, I should think it would be you. Forcing yourself upon her every bloody chance you get, all arrogant and swaggering, as though you’re some sort of stud and she’s the bit of meat you’re after.”

“Please, don’t --” Lily begged, but both boys were too caught up in each other to hear her.

“You’re a right one to talk about forcing yourself upon her, Snivellus,” James responded, “Sneaking amortentia into her drinks for half a term!”

“I’VE APOLOGIZED FOR THAT!” Severus shouted.

“Yeah? How’d you manage that? Sorry for poisoning you, but I’m an insecure twit with no morals whatsoever?”

“Pugnus!” Snape answered the accusation by drawing his wand and delivering the curse quickly.

“NO.” Lily cried at him as James stumbled back from the spell’s strike against his face. She grabbed onto Severus’s arm to stop him throwing a second one at James.

“PUGNUS!” James answered the spell, jabbing his wand at Severus and Severus was throw into the wall beside the sink, his lower lip spurting forth blood. “Pugnus!” he threw a second jab.

“Stop it!” Lily cried. “Stop! Both of you are mental!”

“Moredetis!” Snape waved his wand and a horrible pinching sensation occurred on James’s shoulder. “Moredetis! - It was like being bit - hard. James cried out and went to wave his wand to send a stunner at Snape, but Snape waved his wand and blocked it, and responded with, “Trudo!”

James was shoved backwards and he stumbled, falling to the floor.

“Calceferio!” And square in the gut, it was as though he’d been kicked with a brute force and James doubled over. Severus stood over him, “I believe you’ve had enough, Potter. Now leave me alone.”

James groaned, clutching his stomach, as Severus leaned over him, panting from the exertion.

Lily stood a couple feet away, tears in her eyes, “You’re both horrible bullies!” she sobbed.

Severus looked up at her, “Both?” he asked, “I’m only defending myself against this filthy blood traitor!”

“Blood traitor?” James laughed, “Oh that’s ripe, coming from a half-blood who’s obsessed with a muggle-born!”

“James. Stop instigating! And you - Severus - no you weren’t only defending yourself!” Lily shook her head, “You’re beating him up!” she shouted, “Look at him! He’s on the floor, he’s down, and you’re literally kicking him!”

“He came here, into my common area, where he doesn’t belong at all, and he’s stalking after you -- protecting you my arse. He’s trying to play the hero to make you notice him, accusing me of bloody rubbish that isn’t true…” Severus sneered at James.

James was sitting up now, glasses askew, “And I’m only protecting you against someone who has literally made attacks against you before, Lily. I won’t let him hurt you again. I refuse! You’ve been through enough tosh with this bleeding idiot. He’s broken your heart and made you cry and I won’t stand for it.”

Lily had tears in her eyes, “You’re the bleeding idiot who’s made me cry this time, Potter!” she snapped, “And nobody asked you to go protecting me. Nobody said oi Potter, I need protecting. I’m not some weak, helpless little thing you always need to go leaping into danger for! Sev’s right - you think if you play the hero that I’m going to magically fall in love with you - well I’m not, Potter. I’m not going to fall in love with you. Especially not for attacking one of my friends.”

“HE’S DANGEROUS, EVANS!” James shouted, “AND YOU’RE BLIND TO IT!”

“THEN LET ME BE BLIND AND MAKE MY OWN RUDDY MISTAKE! I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP, JAMES, AND I DON’T WANT IT! I DON’T WANT YOU!” Lily shouted. “I’LL NEVER WANT YOU!!”

James stared at her, and he swallowed back a lump of emotion and struggled to his feet, sweeping the back of his fist over his face, wiping away blood that was leaking from his nostril. He stared at her, blinking quite quickly, then he shook his head, and he turned, sweeping out of the room.

Severus looked at Lily, “I’m sorry, Lil. I just… couldn’t take another moment of him saying that bloody lie and --”

“No. Stop right there. You listen to me, Severus, and you listen to me really good and really well.” Lily’s green eyes flashed, “If you ever lift a wand against him again, I will personally throw every bloody hex you give him right back on you. You’re following a bad path, Severus, I can see it and I don’t know what to do to stop it. Your Slytherin friends are horrible people, people who don’t think anything of hexing other students and bullying them horribly --” she was thinking of Remus Lupin and the things he’d told her that the Slytherins had done to him, “-- and it isn’t right. It’s dark and it’s terrible and it’s all tied up in You-Know-Who’s agenda… Severus, I can’t be your friend if you’re friends with dark wizards. I can’t be your friend if you’re going to get hung up on blood purity and that whole ridiculous debate… You’re fifteen, Sev, you’re practically a man, certainly no longer a child. You’ve got to stand up for what’s right, not just coast about in neutral. Your mum was involved with the Dark Lord’s business because of her family; I know that, you’ve told me. But that doesn’t mean you have to be. You have to stand up for what you believe in. That’s what you have to go. If you don’t stop… I will walk away from you and I will never turn back again this time. I know I have before, but not this time. This, Severus Snape, is your absolute, completely final chance to keep me as your friend. And your friend only. Do you understand me?”

He nodded.

“Good. Now let me wash that blood off your face.”