Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

**/N: Right my darling readers, this is something a little bit different for me; a comedy. Well its not fully a comedy as i am not that talented lol, but is (hopefully) a lot funnier than my other drama internal monologue stories. Do not worry though, i shall be continuing with my other stories as usual. Maybe even speedier than usual? I am hoping to write a chapter a week which means each story should have a new chapter posted each month at the very least. Good news? Lol. Anyways, I want to dedicate this story to **RebeccaSeverusSnape****** for being one of the first people to ever review a story of mine and for sharing a common love of the man that is Severus Snape himself, i feel there just ain't enough SS/OC fics out there so here you go! Hope you like? :| lol. And i want to say thanks soo much to **iluv2eatcarbs****** for making me wanna write a slightly sarcastic and hopefully amusing character. Hope you like this story, although nothing i write will ever be as good as _Duck and Cover_! Haha. :P (everyone go read that, amazing Sirius/OC story!) Anyways, please READ and REVIEW and i hope you all enjoy. Ta! :D**

Chapter One: Plan Of Action

I know it is wrong, extremely wrong in fact, but I just cannot help it. He is just too irresistible. Well, maybe not quite irresistible, what with his greasy bangs and hawk like hooked nose, but he _is _interesting. Yes, interesting is a much more fitting word for him. Intriguing even. I just can't help but watch him, watch his every little move. The way his lips curl when he stares at his fellow students in disgust. The way his ivory skinned hands grasp his fork like its a weapon. The way his...

"Your doing it again Olivia, your drooling over him" the tall blonde next to me muttered in a tone that was close to disgust, as she nudged my elbow. "I don't know what the hell you see in him, but you must be the only person who can see it as everyone else thinks he's creepy and weird"

"Hmm..." I sighed in response as I attempted to spoon some scrambled eggs into my mouth while still keeping my eyes locked firmly onto the Slytherin table across the room from me. Safe to say, I failed miserably and ended up with food all down the front of my robes, but no matter. It was worth it.

You see I had been like this ever since the beginning of fifth year when I was just starting my transformation into a social butterfly, as Lexi called it. Me and her were room-mates and best friends, but no matter how I tried to make her see the light, she just didn't understand my obsession towards the 'weirdo' of Hogwarts itself, as she so politely referred to him as. I had only known him to of had one real friend in all my years at Hogwarts, and her name was Lily Evans and another one of my room-mates.

It all started when I had struck up an argument with Lily around the beginning of our fifth year about why there wasn't any need for so much homework this year even though it was O.W.L year and all, needless to say she firmly disagreed what with her being the know it all smart ass of the whole school. She's lovely really, but still a know it all! Anyway, we immediately bonded over our intense fiery tempers and our love to always be right, and quickly became friends. This soon led to her introducing me to her friends, although when I say _friends_, it was really just her mad hottie stalker James Potter and his Marauder friends; Sirius 'Sexy' Black, Remus 'the gentleman' Lupin and Peter 'Rattigan' Pettigrew. The last one was nice enough, but he gave me the creeps what with all his scurrying about here and there, hence the nickname me and Lexi had given him. The last of the people Lily had introduced me and Lexi to was _him. _And when I say _him_, I really mean Mr. Intriguing Slytherin pants himself. He was so awkward and horrid when we had first met him that I was instantly attracted to him for them traits alone. Call me weird, but a man who can shoot out a comeback within 0.3 seconds which has more wit in it than my entire body, which has a lot trust me, is an instant hunk in my books. What can I say? I like a man who has a way with words and can make people squirm by using them, and them alone.

Two years later, I am back for my seventh and final year of Hogwarts and I still have the hots for him. Two years is a long time to have a crush on someone I think. I mean its not like I have made a vow of chastity to keep myself for him and him alone, therefore ignoring all the other drool worthy men in the school, far from it in fact. Last year alone was a blur of snog fests with the ever sexy Sirius Black and a rather disastrous date with the quiet Remus Lupin himself. Lets just say that nothing makes that man angry and leave it at that. Apparently not even fire and language that would make sailors seem like priests can make Remus hate you, something I was very glad of after last Valentines Day let me tell you!

"Olivia are you listening to me? Your still staring at him aren't you?" Lexi huffed at me as she waved a delicately manicured hand in front of my face, snapping her fingers in the process.

"Uh, what? You say something?" I half mumbled as I reluctantly tore my gaze away from the currently hunched figure at the Slytherin table. I really was obsessed if I couldn't even stop myself from staring at him for a minute. I officially need a new hobby, a less creepy and more social one by the looks of it.

"I asked if you were nearly finished as we should really be heading to class soon, its nearing nine am"

"Yeah, I will be done in a minute, let me just grab a pop tart and we can head off" I muttered as I tried to suppress a rather large yawn, my hand leaning over the table to grab a strawberry pop tart as I stood up to leave. "What class do you have first anyway? I have double potions"

"Divination" Lexi shook her head at me as we casually strolled out the doors of the great hall, other students were darting pass us trying to make sure they were on class on time, but I didn't care about that. What was a few house points when I could make them back up and more from double potions alone? I was rather a whiz kid when it came to brewing things. Sadly, one of only a few things I was good at in this school. The other being Defence Against the Dark Arts. Two very Slytherin classes to excel in I might add.

"You do know you have the biggest goofiest grin on your face don't you" she laughed as we stopped outside in the entrance hall. "Why don't you just talk to him? I mean I don't know why you would want to, but you could always just try it. What's the worse that could happen?"

I scoffed rather loudly at her. "Are you for real? Lily would never speak to me again never mind what Sirius and James would do to me if they found out. They all hate him now after what he did to Lily at the end of fifth year, well James and Sirius hate him more as they always disliked him for some reason or another"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that" Lexi mumbled as she scratched the back of her head in an awkward manner, "Why do you even still want to know him after what he did to Lily then? I mean your mums a Muggle and all, so you can relate to how offensive being called that would be, can't you? Plus, he's creepy as hell Olivia!"

I laughed lightly. "Maybe I like creepy, remember my crush on Professor Flitwick last year? Now that was creepy as hell!" Her laughter joined my own as I continued on a slightly more serous note. "I know everyone thinks he's a horrid person and I don't blame them, what he did to Lily was beyond cruel, especially after she has been so nice to him all these years. But we all say things we don't mean at times and I know for a fact he tried to make it up to her the entire last year of school" Lexi raised an eyebrow at me as though to question how I could turn this around to my favour. I hated being proven wrong. "Plus, he must be nice for Lily to have hung around with him all that time. I mean, I know she is a bit mental at times, but she is usually a good judge of character. I mean look, she befriended us two didn't she?"

"True" Lexi agreed, while giving me a look which clearly said; your impossible Olivia White. "But if you do recall, she has also befriended the four most troublesome boys in the whole of Hogwarts itself. I think her judge of character is officially shot I'm afraid"

"Damn, thought I had you convinced there" I laughed as the first bell sounded indicating there was only five minutes until classes started.

"Look I've got to get to Divination, but I will see you at lunch!" she waved back at me as she ran towards the staircase. "We can talk more about this then if need be, but I would just forget about him and move on. He's not worth it!" She called behind her before she disappeared around the top of the first floor.

"If only I could Lexi, if only I could" I mumbled to myself as I turned and began making my way down towards the dungeons just as the second and final bell rang out, signalling class had officially started. _Slughorn is going to rip me a new one_, I thought as I began taking the steps two at a time now. His last words to me before the summer were, "Olivia White, if you are not seated for every one of my classes in seventh year before the first bell rings, I will give you a detention for every second you are late. You understand?" Needless to say, I understood but had forgotten and now, by the looks of my watch, I had racked up ten detentions already and I still had a good few corridors to sprint before I reached his classroom. I will be in detention until Easter at this rate!

"Ah, Miss White nice of you to join us this morning" Slughorn's cheery tone rang throughout the silent classroom as I barged through the door, three minutes late precisely. "Seems you have racked yourself up one hundred and eighty detentions, but lets just call it a weeks worth with Professor McGonagall and call it even shall we?"

I groaned loudly as I huffed and puffed myself over to my usual seat. My bright red hair was plastered to my face with sweat as I all but bolted it here from the ground floor and that was no minor feat I tell you!

"Yes-yes sir" I managed out before I collapsed exhausted into my chair, extremely thankful that this was a double period and therefore gave me double the time to get my energy back for traipsing all the way back up to civilization later.

"Oh and since you missed the beginning of the class Olivia, you missed being given the chance to choose your new partner for the year so I'm afraid I had to make your choice for you"

I was now composed enough to take a look at the twenty of so students in the class and noticed they where sitting in two's, their amused gazes lingering on mine as some began to whisper about something which apparently was rather amusing. _What else have I missed?_

"Severus, you can gather your things and go sit beside Olivia, your new potions partner for this year" Slughorn addressed a tall greasy looking boy at the front of the class. He had been hunched over his desk right behind where Slughorn had been standing or else I would of noticed him before. There was no way I would of missed him otherwise!

I physically gulped as he reluctantly trudged towards my desk at the back of the class, the whispers of the other students getting louder as he did so. I didn't see what was so amusing about me and Severus being partners? He was good at potions for a starters, very good actually, which I thought would of made him pick of the class when it came to choosing partners, but apparently not it seems. I quickly tried to fix my sweaty mop of hair and made the snap fast decision to address him, against all Lexi's earlier advice of forgetting about him I might add. How can I possibly snub someone who is now going to be sitting within inches of me? _Inches! _My face light up at how close we would be from now on in this class. I felt like my dreams where coming true!

"Hi Severus!" I beamed, most likely too loudly from the look I was receiving from him as he perched himself down as far away from me at the tiny desk as possible. "Sorry I was late, guess your stuck with me now eh?"

He lifted his intense gaze to mine for a moment as I became sucked into those black never ending eyes of his. "Unfortunately yes, I am"

My smile only broadened at his response which caused him to grimace further at my being. "Nice to know. So how was your summer then? Go away anywhere nice? I went to France with my family, was so nice there in July. The weather was really hot though and I don't really like the sun so got burnt quite a lot. At least its turned to a tan now, see? Never thought I would have a tan. Especially since I am normally the colour of Nearly Headless Nick! Funny how you turn white when you-"

"If you wouldn't mind shutting that rather large gob of yours for a moment so I could think, that would be nice" He drawled at me as his eyes narrowed into black slits. I almost sighed at the glare he was shooting at me right now, it was so...cute looking. He always looked cute when he was angry.

"If you feel it will help you, sure its fine. But I doubt me being quiet will make you think better though, your already super smart as it is" I smiled sweetly at him before turning to the front where Slughorn was writing ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion on the board. I could feel Severus' gaze on me as he muttered, what sounded like obscenities, under his breath. Such the gentleman he is. He's such a catch I know. I sighed heavily as I thought of how I would be spending the whole year with him by my side, rubbing shoulders with him and sharing the same workspace. It was magical!

Right then and there, I made a pact with myself that I was going to talk to him this year and make him like me. I mean hey, I was a very likeable and chatty person so I'm sure it wouldn't take long. Plus, I thought I should spend my time in his company doing something productive and what could be more productive than that? I just need to make sure I do it on the down low though as not to alert Lily or anyone else about my plans. To describe them as being upset by what I was planning on doing would be an understatement. Sirius alone would no doubt argue the reasons why I was out of my mind with me until we were both forty, never mind how he would no doubt castrate Severus if he ever got caught so much as glancing my way. Sirius was very protective of me after our little 'fling' last year didn't work out, it was just way too awkward considering I treated him like he was more my big brother than a potential sleeping partner. We were just too much in the friends zone which I was well more than happy staying in, as was he. Thank Merlin! Anyway, I could already feel my plans ending in disaster, but like I said before, I was stubborn, and there was no way I was going to give up that easily. I chanced a look at the person who was currently plaguing my thoughts and noticed him smile slightly through his black slicked hair, as he scribbled down the numerous ingredients from the board. Ah, his potions smile. The best expression he has I thought.

This year I was determined I was going to bag Severus Snape. I was going to snag a Slytherin, the most frowned upon thing to do in Hogwarts. _Oh Merlin, what the hell am I doing..._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Fast update for me, I know. But I have the first three chapters of this written so expect the next chapter up in the next week. :] Thanks to all who have added this to their faves/alerts and to **_kouriel _**who reviewed. Thanks soo much! Anyways, here is chapter two. Please READ and REVIEW! :]**

Chapter Two: First Date

"You're still considering dating him aren't you?" Lexi accused me as she sorted through the various bars of chocolate on the shelves at Honeydukes. "You are so easy to read, its child's play figuring out what you're up to Olivia"

I shifted away from her and over to a shelf opposite to where she was looking, which contained the more high sugar content sweets, like sugar snap wands etc. Basically my life source depended on these beauties. "I don't have the foggiest as to what or who you are referring to I am afraid" I tried to keep my facial expressions neutral as I grabbed several of the sugary sweets and added them to my already large pile of chocolate frogs and sherbet cauldrons.

Lexi scoffed as she turned round and stood next to me again, her face gazing at mines from her position at the left of me. "We both know that's a lie!" Her jovial expression soften however as she continued. "I can't believe you don't trust me enough to actually tell me though, it's not like I would tell Lily or anything about what you are up to, you know that don't you?"

I nodded in agreement before I gazed around me, checking for any particularly familiar faces in the busy shop. I did not want to get caught talking about Severus in public. It would be the talk of half the school before I had even left Hogsmeade! "Fine. I've been talking to him a lot the last month. Happy now?"

She bit her lip slightly trying hard to hide her smile, or frown. Couldn't quite work out exactly what one she was hiding from me which was slightly worrying. "Extremely, now tell me what has been said and how things have progressed. Still cannot believe you had hid this from me for an entire month though!"

I looked sheepish for a moment as I shrugged my shoulders in defeat. "Well there isn't a lot to really tell actually..."

She looked at me in confusion for a moment before leading the way over to the till. "What do you mean there's not a lot to tell? You just said you two have been speaking for over a month now!"

I dropped my large pile of diabetic coma inducing sugar onto the counter. "Because maybe he hasn't been talking really..." I laughed a little before I handed the gangly boy at the till a few coins and stepped aside waiting on Lexi being served.

"What do you mean he hasn't been talking?" she shot at me as she lightly placed her much smaller pile of high grade chocolate onto the counter, swishing her bum length blonde hair in the process. The gangly boys eyes almost popped out as he drooled over her. "You have been word vomiting again, haven't you?"

I shuffled at the look she was shooting me. "Might have been, just a little teensy bit..." I used my thumb and forefinger to further illustrate.

"Olivia!" She reprimanded as we made our way out of the stuffy sweet smelling shop and over towards The Three Broomsticks. "What have I told you about talking so much, it puts boys off if you are constantly going on and on, talking over them all the time and-"

"-and making them feel bored by discussing every little mundane fact of my life? Right, I get it. Be quiet, look pretty and seem interested in Quidditch. The three rules for bagging a boy, I know I know"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Your impossible you know that? Anyway, what have you been boring him with? Please tell me it hasn't been your holiday to France has it?" I smiled weakly at her as she said this. "Merlin, it has hasn't it? You have probably bored him to death with the story of the Eiffel Tower by now as well"

"Might have" I laughed as my cheeks flushed ever so lightly pink. "That was one of the only stories he seemed rather interested in actually, think he seemed quite impressed with the fact that I managed to vanish the Eiffel Tower for a few minutes, well part of it anyway"

"1/1000th of it actually, to be specific. Was hardly the talk of Paris's wizarding world as not a soul even noticed it but you!"

"Well he seemed to think it was rather spectacular" I smiled cheerfully as I opened the door to the tavern. The warm breeze of the room hitting me instantaneously as did the smell of sweat and alcohol.

"Uh huh" Lexi nodded, rather unimpressed with my statement. "Now what did he actually say?"

I sighed heavily as I found a small table up the back, which had miraculously three available chairs at it. It was usually a case of trying to find a needle in a haystack when it came to finding free tables in here on a Saturday during term, then a fight to the death with another several students to claim it. "His exact words where 'wow, I am impressed Olivia. I didn't know you where that stupid, a feat even for you I must say'" I smiled heavenly at the memory. His eyes didn't even look up from his parchment when he had said it, but the slight signs of a smirk on his face was enough to send me into overdrive. _Oh how sexy he looked when he smirked!_ Well, not Sirius Black sexy obviously, he's in his own league entirely. But he was most definitely sexy when he smirked, which he only seemed to do around me mostly. Or maybe he only did it when he insulted people? Which just so happened to be me quite a lot. I decided to share these thoughts with Lexi and see what she thought.

"He most definitely hates you Olivia. And if he doesn't hate you personally, he hates you for being a rambling Gryffindor. It's inevitable" she said softly as she patted my arm ever so slightly in a consoling manner. I, on the other had, was totally un-phased by this. If he hated me he would of asked to be moved in potions by now, begged to be moved actually, the amount I had been gushing to him recently. But he hadn't, and he always took time to give me a reply, as short and as witty as he could muster no doubt, but that was most definitely more than he gave to most people. Especially most Gryffindor's. They only where special enough to get an incinerating glare from him and nothing more. Poor souls not even being worth a beautifully crafted insult from his lips, they must be so upset.

"I take it she still zones out then, yeah?" I heard a male voice mutter as I turned to see Sirius Black sitting in the other available seat at our table. His legs rolled out in front of him as he casually lounged in the wooden seat like it wasn't uncomfortable to sit in in the slightest. Which it was, dreadfully.

Lexi's laughter filled the air as her cheeks tinged pink slightly. "I only zoned out once I spotted you approaching our table, thought it might help block out your annoying tone of voice" I stifled a laugh at his mock hurt expression before I continued. "But sadly your tones seem to penetrate everything, probably even deafening to dogs the poor beasts"

He gave me a sly smirk at the last part before he leaned over and towards me slightly. "You can never block them out as you love hearing them dear" I laughed loudly at his attempt to seduce me with his charm, that was so last year. I was over all of my Sirius Black weakness' now and was immune to all of his charms it seemed. Something that deeply bothered Sirius no doubt, a female in Hogwarts who could actually say no to him and mean it? He must be crying in bed at night. He slid back into his previously casual pose, a huffed look on his face as he did so. "Right, so who where you two beautiful gals talking about before I sashayed over?"

I nearly chocked on my butter beer. Firstly, sashayed? Did he really just say that? Does he think he is like a pirate or something now? Okay... Secondly, I need to lie which shouldn't be too hard. Lexi on the other hand, will no doubt muck it all up the minute he stares at her with one of his longing gazes. She was rather helpless to his charms, what with her fancying the arse off him and all. _Bugger._

"No no-one important, no-one at all actually..." Lexi squeaked before she took a rather large gulp of her own beverage. Seriously, how easily did she cave? He hasn't even looked at her yet, just leaned into her slightly and she's already about to confess to Merlin knows what.

"We were actually discussing you funnily enough, I was just telling Lexi here about what you did over the summer"

His face paled considerably for the briefest of moments before he was calm and composed again. "And did Lexi like what she heard then?" He sweetly murmured as he gazed at my best friend, and one of only a handful of legal aged girls in Hogwarts who hadn't snogged or slept with Sirius Black yet.

"Actually" I cut across him, interrupting the moment by the looks of it as Lexi gave me a 'I hate you' look. "She thought you should shave your womanly legs the next time you decide to wear one of James' mothers dresses, as she thinks you have the face for it but them beast like legs would definitely give you away if not tamed"

Well that did it. I had rendered the infamous smooth talker that is Sirius Black speechless. _One to me, and null point to him._ I beamed to myself at my victory, which was short lived by the unexpected arrival of James and Remus.

"There you are Padfoot!" James called as he came over and slapped Sirius on the shoulder causing him to sit up slightly straighter, the look of shock and slight embarrassment fading into happiness instantaneously. "Oh hi Olivia, Lexi" He smiled happily as he nodded to each of us in turn. I caught Lexi's gaze and rolled my eyes. This would no doubt turn into a Quidditch discussion pretty soon therefore ruining any chance of me and her talking about Severus.

"Hello girls" Remus smiled down at us as James pulled two random seats from somewhere or another. "Had a nice time in Hogsmeade this morning?"

He moved away from my side to take a seat in-between James and Lexi and as far from me as possible. I didn't blame him however, I would be scared to sit next to the girl who managed to set your robes on fire, without a wand and candles I may add, in this exact Tavern earlier this year. I actually wouldn't of blamed him if he had chosen never to speak to me again after that. Needless to say, it was the last time Lily was allowed to set me up on a date that was sure. I was really starting to think she had really bad judgements recently... "Hi Remus, James" I smiled. "Yes, we had just been to Madam Courtney's for some new occasion robes and then went to-"

"-So, what's the plans for next months match against Ravenclaw then?" Sirius asked as he sat up and clapped his hands together. _That arse just talked over me, the nerve of it!_ I huffed in my seat as I shot him a death glare. _One all now I suppose as that has shut me up_. Remus offered me an apologetic smile before turning back to the new set topic; crappy wizarding sports.

James' face lit up. "Exactly what I came here to talk to you about mate. Well I was thinking you should work up on your feigning techniques and I was planning on starting three practices a week instead of only..."

I mentally blocked out the rest as it was mind numbingly boring. _God was Quidditch boring!_ Even Muggle football was more entertaining, to me anyways. Lexi nodded along to bits and bobs of the conversation as she stared heavenly over at Sirius, as he spoke animatedly about some play or idea or something else mundane no doubt. I admired how she actually took an interest in our schools sport and supported our team religiously every match with Lily cheering enthusiastically next to her. I would take these Saturdays to enjoy an empty dorm and common room all to myself and have the longest long lie in ever known to man, before running naked down the abandoned halls of Hogwarts. No, not really of course, as that would just be weird, and cold. The castles hallways are freezing all year round and running starkers through them, no matter how drunk or fun it might seem at the time, would end in tears. And icicles on certain, uhm body parts no doubt.

"I'm going to get another butter beer, anyone else want one?" I addressed to the table as everyone shook their heads no. The boys hardly managing to do that they were so engrossed in their own conversation. _Ignoramus'!_

I smiled slightly in relief for not having to carry five bottles through the rather crowded tavern, magically or not, it would no doubt end with me soaked or worse, me soaking someone else. I was a few people away from the bar now, only three people stood between me and hydration.

"'Scuse me" I firmly stated as I pushed my way through the three chattering figures and up to the mahogany and gold bar. They mumbled apologies as they shuffled away to let me through. The actual bar was pretty empty I noticed, most of the people crowded around it were just standing, drinks in hand and chattering between themselves as there was no seats. I looked around for Rosmerta but could hardly see over the bar with it being so tall. I huffed in a childish manner just to outwardly show off my annoyance to anyone that was listening.

"Too small to even order a drink now White" a seductive voice spoke into my ear as I turned to see no other than Severus Snape standing next to me. His head and shoulders standing above mine, and the bar for that matter. I ignored the slight scowl that draped his face and beamed up at him despite internally arguing with myself over how stupid I must look.

"Well maybe since you are tall you can order my drink then for me?" his eyes narrowed slightly with a look between confusion and apprehension. "You know, be a gentleman and all that"

"And why would I want to be considered one of those?"

I shook my head as I smiled up at him. "Well maybe because girls like men who do nice things for them" His lips started forming a scowl but I cut them off half way. "Plus, the sooner you order me that drink, the sooner I will be out your hair and leave you in peace"

He seemed to debate my logic for a moment before calling on Rosmerta and placing his order. Minutes later, a butter beer and something dark and alcoholic arrived and I handed Severus the money for my drink, extremely sad that I would have to return to the table of Quidditch talk now and leave him behind.

"Please. Keep it" he nodded as he gently pushed my outstretched palm back towards myself. His touch sending a shock through me, almost causing me to drop my coins in surprise. "If it helps you to leave sooner, it was my pleasure to buy you a drink"

I frowned slightly at his words before noticing his own expression; his eyes were frantically scanning my body and face as though trying to figure me out, commit me to memory, while his lips looked set in stone as they were so tightly pursed together.

"Well, I guess I shall see you around then? Potions on Monday remember!" I laughed lightly as I tried desperately to think of some excuse to stay and chat with him. _Trouble with my potions essay maybe? Or even just the truth, that I needed to stare at him longer as I was his own personal stalker? Nah, two unbelievable and creepy._

"Unfortunately yes" He mumbled before slipping out through the crowd, the bodies parting like the red sea for him, leaving me standing gazing longingly after his billowing form. My hands caressed my bottle of butter beer as I remembered about him buying it for me and then touching my hand, my fingertips still tingling from the contact even now. _I cannot believe he actually bought me a drink! Severus 'mopy drawers' Snape had just purchased me, a female, a drink in a bar._ Merlin, it was like we were on an actual date! Well, minus the scowling and extreme snarky sarcasm between us, but this was huge! Never had he ever shown anything above civility towards me. I sighed as my fingers traced the neck of the bottle. I glanced over to where he was heading and noticed a few sinister looking Slytherin's at a table up the back, staring around at everyone with clear looks of disgusts on their faces. I stared hard at Severus' back wondering what exactly he saw in those people. I mean, yes they were in the same house etc, but they were just so...nasty! I gripped my bottle tighter as I saw him move slightly. _Did he just look back at me? No! He didn't, did he?_ I felt my cheeks flushing as I held in the urge to squeal like a little girl. A very un-attractive look to him no doubt. I smiled goofily to myself as I made my way back to my own table, one thought very prominent in my mind;

_You Severus Snape are definitely not like other Slytherin's, and I am determined to prove that fact_.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Another fast update! Expect them to slow considerably after this though, as this is the last chapter I have fully typed up. :[ Anyways, thanks to all ho reviewed/alerted/favourited this story last chapter and please READ and REVIEW this one! Ta! :]**

Chapter Three: Encounters Of The First Kind

7:46am. _I hate Mondays_...

I groaned as I stared at the red flashing lights on my alarm clock once again, _why did we have to get up this early? Could classes not start at like 11am or something?_ Getting up at this time was torture.

"Slept in again Olivia?" Lily's slightly firm tone addressed my sleeping form. "You do know that you need to get up now or you will be late don't you?"

I mumbled something in what could quite possibly be in another language, as it was that unrecognisable, as I pulled the covers over my head and snuggled deeper into the warmth that I was determined not to be vacating soon.

**Swoosh.**

I clamped up into a tight ball as the covers vacated my bed and left me exposed to the chilly October air. I hated Lily and her need to be persistent.

"Lily Evans I will be getting up when I want to get up!" I moaned as I summoned my duvet back over me again. "Stop being so annoying this time of morning will you and just go down for breakfast already!"

She huffed, no doubt rolling her eyes as she did so, and left our room without saying another word. This was me and Lily's usual routine. She would always have to be the mothering type and try and get me up in time for breakfast, while I would stubbornly ignore her attempts until she was gone, and then get up and rush to get ready. What can I say? I don't like to be told what to do. That, and anything Lily would tell me to do I would be determined to do the opposite just to annoy her. Don't know why, but that's just the sort of relationship that me and Lily have. A slightly competitive one some would say. I call it friendly banter.

The bathroom door opened. "That Lily gone then?" Lexi asked as she strolled out fully dressed brushing her hair as she did so.

I flew out of my bed at breakneck speed and into the bathroom to have the fastest shower known to man. "Yup" I called behind me.

"I don't understand why you can't just get up when she asks you to you know! She is just being nice and making sure you get to class on time!" Lexi called through the door to me.

"Because I am terribly stubborn and have problems with authoritative figures, what can I say? I am a total basket case" I shouted back as I began stripping my clothes off, making a mess of the spotless bathroom floor as I did so.

Laughter filtered through the mahogany door until I drowned it out with the sound of running water. I guess that my stubbornness will no doubt earn me another week of detentions now_. Great._

* * *

Yup, eight detentions I got hit with from Slughorn. The extra one was to set an example considering the last batch didn't seem to have made me any more of an early riser. I had managed to make it to breakfast for 8:40am, plenty of time to grab something and make it to class I should say, but me being me had to dilly dally with a large bowl of porridge and an apple before running down to the dungeons again just before the second bell. Note to self; eat on the move next time to save time, and gain indigestion.

"You must be quite acquainted with McGonagall now after spending so much time with her" Severus monotonous voice said as I was chopping up the amaranthus gangeticus plant with great vigour. My head snapped towards his, slightly confused as to why he was addressing me as it was usually me who was the first to initiate a conversation and he would abruptly end it with one of his wonderful comments.

"Actually this batch of detentions are with Slughorn himself as I think he is taking pity on me" I shrugged as I continued my chopping. Severus' hand never once stopped its delicate stirring of the potion as he continued our first '_real_' conversation.

"Most likely as you are one of his favourites" He casually said, causing me to cock my head to the side in confusion. _Was he talking to me?_ Like actually _conversing_ with me like a _normal_ human being? Surely I was dreaming as his voice didn't even hold an inch of sarcasm in it. Not even a smidgen. Zilch.

"Ehm...yeah?" I nervously replied as a blush tinged my cheeks. His sudden normality towards me was throwing me off guard and making me feel all hot and bothered, a trait I never felt around Severus as I was usually too absorbed in my daydreams of him to even think too deeply about what he was saying. I knew he was referring to what Slughorn called his 'Slug Club', a trophy collection of various students who showed great talent in one subject or more. James Potter was even praised by Slughorn for just being good at lousy Quidditch. Apparently some thought that was a talent anyway. Why? I will never know as its just a group of people throwing balls about in the air, not exactly spectacular I must say!

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

_What is she doing?_ I thought to myself as I continued to stir our perfectly brewing potion the remainder three clockwise turns. One minute she is all chatty and annoying and the next she can't even string a sentence together never mind look at me. The female race is an unsolvable species it seems.

"Its time to add the amaranthus now"

She seemed to come out of her daydreaming coma that she was in and pass me the immaculately cut herbs that I immediately added to our delightfully pink potion. _What a wonderful colour_, I mentally scowled. Her fingertips brushed mine slightly as she was taking back her hand and I felt the same strange feeling wash over me that had in The Three Broomsticks on Saturday. It was what one would call a shiver maybe, or even a tingle of some sort. Whatever it was, I had never felt anything like it and wasn't overly sure if I wanted to again. I snatched my hand away as quickly as I could without drawing too much attention to the fact, and noticed Olivia's cheeks darken slightly as though embarrassed with our encounter.

_Well why wouldn't she?_ I thought as I began stirring the potion anti-clockwise now for twelve turns, she was most likely repulsed and embarrassed by even being in close proximity to me never mind actually touching my being. Just like most of the Gryffindor's it seems. Not that I minded as they were scum of this earth, well, except for Lily. She was an exception. The only exception I may add. I then thought back to how Olivia had acted when we had accidentally touched before, she had blushed then also. _Why did I even buy her a drink that day_? I mentally scolded myself for acting so out of character. She most definitely thought me as downright horrid now for sinking so low as to get her to leave my presence. Truth be fully told, I wouldn't of overly minded if she had stayed. I had left the table I was at with some of my fellow Slytherin's as their talk of the Dark Lord was becoming to bothersome and depressing, even for me. Her presence at the bar seemed to brighten my day slightly, as she annoyingly always manages to do with that damn infectious smile of hers.

"Severus can you pass me the Herta roots over please?" Olivia's obnoxiously happy tones hammered upon my ears causing my to frown slightly. _What was with her and being happy_? She would never shut up, it was the most infuriating thing in the world. I scowled at the mere recollection of the stories she had dribbled on and on about since the start of term. I have to admit, not all of them were as mind numbingly boring as I had expected, but she couldn't half go on. In fact she was always talking, I even recall our first meeting together two years ago when Lily had introduced us...

**FLASHBACK**

"Who did you say we were meeting again?" I tentatively asked Lily as we walked towards the lake. It was sunny and I was currently sweating in my heavy black robes and school uniform. I would of changed into something less heavy, but being Slytherin, my Muggle clothes were of little use here at Hogwarts. So I was forced to sweat profusely several months of the year. Handy that I was well equipped in spells and dark magic as to learn a temperature changing spell, as well as living close enough to a Muggle town to be able to stock up on something that the Muggles called deodorant. Although I was still confused about this desired '_lynx effect_'...

"Just a few friends of mine" she replied sweetly, smiling at me encouragingly as my face paled at the mention of the word 'f_riends_'. "Don't worry Severus, they are perfectly lovely and I am sure they will see past all those silly Slytherin boundaries, just like me"

I half smiled at her, although her words did little to reassure me. Her other '_friends_' weren't exactly on my list of favourite people, although they were pretty high on another list of mine. Potter being my number one on my '_people I want to hex into the next Millennium_' list. I felt her hand slip into mine as she began to quicken our pace towards the ever still water of the Black Lake. To say that this action brought me joy would be a grand understatement, but the spark that many a romance novel would speak of didn't seem to ignite at our touch. Just one of the many ludicrous ideas these Muggles had concocted up for those disastrous books it seems, and the ever lonely idiots who spent their times reading them. Not me however, I have better things to spend my time doing. Like...oh who am I kidding!

"Ah, here we are at last" she breathed heavily as we finally halted at a quiet spot near a rather large oak tree not far from the edge of the water. I glanced around at our surroundings not seeing anyone else here apart from several large groups of older students frolicking on the opposite side of the water. I felt Lily's hand drop from mine. "Oh look! There they are!" I gazed over at the direction she was now pointing in to see two females walking towards us from the east end of Hogwarts grounds. "Olivia! Lexi! Over here!"

I took my time to inspect our new company as Lily began waving like an excited five year old. The tallest of the two, I had seen many times before in numerous classes. Her long frightfully white blonde hair and almond eyes seem to have most of the boys in Hogwarts chasing after her, while her academic record made her the envy of most of the other remaining students. I neither thought she was very pretty or particularly smart, just another tall blonde bimbo who seemed to want to have the illusion of brains behind that mop she called hair. Her companion, on the other hand, was something else entirely. She was very distinct in my memory from her great ambitions in Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts classes, although I couldn't quite recall her in many of my other classes for some reason which seemed slightly strange to me as I was usually well attuned to my surroundings. She seemed to be a good few inches shorter than the wannabe model and her face was more round in shape, and similar to Lily's. Her eyes were an intense green and large like that of a child's. But what really caught my attention was her flaming red hair. Lily's was a natural shade of red like that of a sunrise, but hers was more the colour of blood. Something that was strangely intriguing to me. It was sticking out at odd angles and cut in the most obscure cut, which slightly reminded me of Potter which, in turn, instantly made me dislike her before even meeting her.

"Hello Lily" The blonde smiled at my companion before looking me over, making me feel very uncomfortable and on edge as her frowning eyes scanned my body. Paying particular attention to the crest on my robes.

"No need to flounder about like a headless chicken Lily, we could see you from just over there you know" The little one scoffed slightly before smiling. Her eyes then found me and she smiled instantly up at me also, not even glancing at the emblem on my robes or checking me over to see if I was worthy first. I nodded my acknowledgement of her as my own greeting before scowling down at her as she ruffled her hair, a very Potter-esque thing to do. I noticed her own smile turning upside down as she took in my less than pleased introduction.

"This is Severus, my friend from back-" Lily began before being cut off by the midget gem before me.

"Is there a reason you have a face like a smacked arse?" She accosted me, as she put her arms on her hips in what I assumed she thought was a threatening stance. "I've did nothing but say hello to you and you instantaneously scowled down at me and my friend"

I was taken aback by her bluntness for maybe all of two seconds before I scowled, my brain back to full working order. "And why should I smile at someone I don't even know?" I glanced down at her before turning my full threatening gaze over towards her annoying friend on her right. "And someone who clearly has a formed negative opinion of me before we have even met?"

"Severus that's not very nice!" Lily called as she shot me an angry glare before muttering apologies on my behalf to her two so called '_friends_'. The tall one of which looked so severely taken aback I began wondering if she would maybe faint. Typical of a Gryffindor, all front and no actual courage. About time Dumbledore changed the traits of the houses. Gryffindor should read '_for those who are fake and pompous, full of distaste and __**lacking**__ courage_'.

"Its fine Lily, he is only saying what he thinks" the flaming strawberry smiled up at me, her anger now completely gone, and completely ignored the large scowl that was burning down on her from my thin lips. "I apologise if we offended you, but you should try brushing up on your social skills. They seem a bit rusty"

Did she just insult me? For the second time today? And, in the sweetest tone of voice possible? _Something is definitely off with this one, _I thought as I gazed down at her. Giving her one of my most treasured glares, the ones I usually only reserved for Potter or Black, but she didn't flinch. Or frown or even seem unnerved in the slightest. Maybe I am losing my touch...

"You can stop with the bad boy act now you know. Your not fooling me!" She laughed before patting me on the shoulder. Lily and the blonde girl shared a look before the latter rolled her eyes at her shorter companion and started dragging her off.

"Sorry Lil's but we really must be going to the Library to study, was nice seeing you" she politely muttered before whispering something into her oblivious friends ear causing her to blush and grin back at me and Lily.

"Bye Lily! Bye Severus! Hope to see you again, and soon!" The midget gem called back at us before waving and disappearing behind a group of Ravenclaws that her friend had tugged her behind.

"Ehm, sorry about that Severus. Olivia can be quite weird and full on at times" Lily laughed awkwardly before making her way back in the direction of the castle, me following behind slightly dazed from my encounter. "she is right though you know, you really do need to work on your social skills"

I nodded briefly at her comment, not overly caring if she had insulted me or not at the moment. Although her melodic laughter and bright smile somehow told me she hadn't. My mind was clouded by my encounter with, Olivia was it? _Olivia..._ what a strange character she seemed. She didn't even seem phased by my moodiness, even Lily was phased by my occasional sourness and she has known me since before first year. _Olivia_. Will need to keep an eye out for her.

**FLASHBACK**

"Severus? You there" A familiar voice tugged at my ears as a small hand appeared on my shoulder, shaking me slightly. "Can you pass the Herta roots over please? I've been trying to get your attention for the last five minutes" she laughed as I looked at her, my face no doubt showing one of my rare moments of confusion. Which may I add, always seemed to be near her. "It seems that me and my daydreaming are rubbing off on you, better watch or soon you will be actually smiling to"

I scowled slightly at her comment, not entirely sure if she was being genuinely horrid or not. Although the fact that her eyes were twinkling and her lips were curled into a large contagious smile was making me feel that she wasn't. Although why, I didn't know. That was one of the reasons that I put up with her rambling and atrocious story telling; she _intrigued_ me. For two years I had been trying to figure out her reasons for being nice to me, especially after the disaster I had made with Lily and mines friendship two years ago. Even I wouldn't blame her if she scowled at me now! But she didn't, not ever. Not even when James or Black where present, which seemed to infuriate the gits to no ends I may add, which caused me great joy to see them upset I will admit. But why though! I sneaked a rare glance at my curious Potions partner to see her bright warm face mumbling a tune under her breath as she chopped up the roots I had handed to her only a moment ago.

_You, Olivia White frustrate and amaze me..._


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Just wanna say a big thanks to all who reviewed/favourited/alerted this story last chapter. You guys are magic, thanks! Also want to add that the Maraunders and Lily might seem a bit stuck up or pretentous in this story, but this is just to help the fact that it is a Snape/OC story and she has to be annoyed slightly with her fellow Gryffindors at times to even see a good side to Snape. I actually love them all in reality, minus Lily and Peter. Sorry, but they just grind on me alittle. Lol. :S Anyways, please READ and REVIEW! :]**

Chapter Four: Dating and Hating

"Snap! Ha, I win this time loser!" I cheered as I stomped my feet on the floor and flapped my arms about in a rather childish matter. What? I never win against Sirius so I am going to enjoy this moment for all its worth.

"Yeah yeah, big deal" My dark haired companion murmured before slumping back in his chair, a look of concentrated nonchalance on his face. He huffed a few times before officially falling into a childish sulk.

"Pfft! Wasn't that ten minutes ago when you had won, for the fifteenth time I might add!" I huffed as I stopped my victory dance and sat more calm and lady-like in my chair. "Men are such big baby's when they loose, it's such a turn off"

At my last statement, Sirius immediately sat up straighter and glanced around the common room. No doubt checking if any eligible girls had noticed his childish behaviour. I was silently praying that anyone from fifth year onwards had noticed to shut him up!

"Well no-one is here but them first years over there", he pointed to the now frowning first years who were squeezed on the large couch by the fire, "so I don't give a damn!"

"Language language Mr Black!" James Potter's voice appeared in the room as the man himself came dashing through the portrait hole. "You should know by now that you have to speak politely when in front of the fairer race"

I raised my brows at his statement. "And I assume Lily plays by them rules also, yes?"

He laughed nervously for a moment before Sirius cut him off. "She obviously does as your efforts of chasing her around and referring to her as Evans for the past six years have never paid off"

I giggled slightly as James pouted like what I can only describe as a fish. _Scary._ Sirius' face was looking smug again as he stood up from his place across from me, and his exploding snap pack, and made his way over to James, who was now only centimetres away from us. "Don't worry Prongs, I am sure she loves it really. Deep down"

"Deep deep down" I added.

"Deep deep deep-"

"Yeah yeah I get it, play by my own rules. Duly noted Padfoot" James stated as he swatted a leaning Sirius off his shoulder and towards the wide eyed first years who now looked petrified. _Why?_ I did not know as if they had been only a few years older and mostly female, they would have been grabbing at him no doubt. _Girls!_ "Although I doubt I shall be needing your dating advice mate as I've got a date for this Saturday"

I glanced at his smug face and I burst out laughing. "Your kidding right? Who would want to date you?"

He shot me a death glare before ignoring my statement and grinning like the cat who got the cream again. "With Lily I might add. Beautiful Lily Evans"

I chocked. On my own laughter no less, and nearly fell of my chair. "Li-liy Eva-Evans?"

"The one and only" He smiled as he strutted over towards me and conjured a chair of his own. I looked to Sirius for help only seeing he had, by the looks of it, been super glued to the spot by this sudden and unexpected news. His jaw almost was hitting the floor. _Catching flies as usual._

I coughed loudly bringing my dumbfounded snap partner back to reality. "Was she jinxed or, or under the effects of a potion at the time?" James face faltered slightly. "I just can't believe she actually said yes to you a-"

"Its not that hard to believe you know, I am one of the most sought after guys in the school" He cut me off.

"After me of course, we all know that I am the most charming man in Hogwarts you pompous man" Sirius called as he re-took his space in his chair across from me. Seems he has recovered enough to be his ever charming self again, _wonderful_.

"Did you just say the word pompous?" I quizzed Sirius, his choice of vocabulary was sure getting strange recently. He gazed at me with his trade mark lopsided grin. _Hmm, I remember what those lips could do... _"No no wait!" I shook my head clear of Sirius and turned back to James. I was not going there again, it would be like kissing my friends husband. Just wrong and nasty. Besides, Lexi would kill me if I didn't die from disgust. "I still don't believe Lily said yes to going out with you, especially with nothing but her free will coaxing her"

"Babe, we do a lot of things, but drugging a girl to date us? C'mon!" Sirius laughed as James tutted beside me.

"What do you think I am? Some sort of rapist?"

I shook my head as a small laugh escaped my red coloured lips. "No I didn't mean it like that! It's just you haven't heard half of the things she says about you in the dorm room is all"

James' face beamed again. "She talks about me to you guys?"

"Well talks a strong word. More like...insults?" I shrugged before gathering up the cards on the table and packing them into their original pack. "Actually come to think of it, she hasn't done it at all this year. Seems like you have grown on her after all"

"Or grown up some might say" Sirius casually said as he examined his fingernails on his right hand. _Why did I hang out with these arrogant fools again?_ Oh right, Lily and Lexi. Almost forgot!

"Ha ha, hilarious you are!" James sarcastically said before standing up. "Right well as much as I would love to stay and be insulted more, I have places to be"

I caught him giving Sirius a small nod before he too got up from his chair and said his goodbyes, both leaving the common room shorty after.

"Like twins they are with their own language!" I muttered under my breath before heading to my room to gather some things to study with. I had at least three essays to be handed in by tomorrow and I was spending my free period playing games with Sirius Black? I really need to get my priorities straight! _Stupid distracting Sirius Black!_ I blame Lexi for having Care of Magical Creatures and leaving me un-chaperoned!

* * *

_Clump. _The loud noise echoed throughout the half empty Library as I slammed it shut.

"Damn heavy book!" I muttered as I pushed it away from my tiring eyes at the abandoned table and pulled another, much bigger book towards me. "Two down and one to go"

_Right, only Potions left now_. I pulled an empty piece of parchment out of my bag before dipping my quill into its ink pot, twice for good measure. I pealed open the dusty books pages before scanning the text for the material needed. _The Granticus plant is used for the titan potion and other strengthening elixirs. _Blah blah blah I thought as I scanned the pages further. Ah, here it is! _Can even cure muscular dystrophy for suffering Wizards and Witches, and greatly increases stamina when added sparingly to fluids then drunk. There are many other uses which are listed bellow;_

Why did Slughorn make us note down things that we were never allowed to even brew? It was just madness! As much as I loved Potions, I wasn't a very enthusiastic fan of the Professor. He was nice enough, a large hearty man with an odd sense of humour, but was head of Slytherin which said enough. Yes, I know I am currently doted on a certain boy who is also in the house of evil, but I am still a Gryffindor at heart and I know where I stand. Now do not get me wrong, Slughorn's only viable Slytherin trait is his need to praise the people who show great talented abilities in life, and not so discreetly give everyone else the brush off if you do not meet his standards. I mean holding his own 'invite only' Christmas party? Seriously conceded. I shook my head as I read the rest of the page. I was just in the middle of scribbling down the plants various other uses when a scratching sound bellowed next to me followed by a distinct thud, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin I might add!

I turned my head sharply to the the side of me to be met with dark brooding eyes. "You scared the life out of me you know that!" I all but screamed at the boy before me before shaking my head and trying my best to slow my heart rate, which his presence was not helping with in the slightest.

He smirked ever so slightly. "Well maybe you shouldn't day dream as often as you do then, you might actually be aware of what was going on if you were actually in the world of reality"

I couldn't help but smirk back. "Yes sorry, my fault for actually being absorbed in my work and not paying attention to my deserted surroundings. How silly of me!"

He cocked his head slightly before frowning. A thing he did quite often which rather confused me. _Was this man never happy?_ Suppose it is all part of his 'the world hates me' brooding look he has going on oh so well. I sighed as I drooled mentally over his brooding ways. "Yes I forgot that studying takes all of your mental abilities, unlike most people"

The sexiness of Severus Snape instantly vanished as I too frowned. "Are you calling me stupid?"

The faintest look of apprehension flashed across his face before he began to stumble with his words slightly, which was extremely unusual for him. "Not, not entirely stupid. For a Gryffindor"

Seeing him fumbling about looking to somehow apologise to me made my heart melt. He thought me worthy enough to even contemplate saying sorry! I couldn't help the smile that graced my face again. "It's okay, I understand" he nodded slightly before letting out a small almost inaudible breath of relief and composing the little of emotions he had shown and appearing stoic again, as usual. I assumed that I most likely wouldn't be able to note any of this if I hadn't been practically stalking the guy for two years. How depressing and sad was that?

Silence washed over us. What do you say to a man who doesn't say much? Usually I would just ramble on and on until I got told to shut up or got detention or something similar, but I was actually in a bit of a panic to get this essay done and was too tired from being in this musky room since lunchtime to even muster up a conversation about nothing.

Severus unusually took the lead however. "Why are you not at dinner?" My confused expression must of urged him to continue as he hastily added, "No doubt your Gryffindor friends are wondering where you are by now"

I stole a glance at my muggle watch, a handy contraption my mother had bought me last Christmas. "Shit! I didn't think it was that late" I sighed as I fully took in the time. "There's no point going now too as they are no doubt finishing dessert" My stomach rumbled at the thought of chocolate fudge cake smothered in ice cream, earning what I presumed was a disgusted glance from my companion. "Why are you not at dinner then?"

I seemed to have caught him off guard as he recoiled slightly from my side, fixing his ebony and green robes in the process. "I don't think that is any of your business White" he drawled.

_White?_ Right, I have obviously pushed a button with my ability to prod where I am not wanted, and therefore have been resorted back to the honour of being addressed by my surname again. _Great!_ He said Olivia so sexy and wonderful to, shame. I decided my best form of defence would be to swiftly change the subject. "So, have you finished this Potions essay yet? It took me ages just to even find this musty old book! I don't understand why Slughorn even gave us this essay as the chances of it coming up in N.E.W.T's and," I glanced at Severus' frustrated face before lowering my eyes, "And I am rambling again, sorry..."

"Yes, well if I can get a word in" I smiled to myself at that comment before his slow and even voice continued, "I finished it two days ago and I found it rather intriguing"

I fiddled with my hands suddenly very unsure of myself. _Did I just inadvertently insult him by dissing Slughorn's essay?_ I decided to keep my rambling mouth shut this time as I turned back towards the three lined filled parchment before me. _Wow I really need to get a move on_, I thought as I began searching the abandoned book before me again.

Five minutes of complete silence went by until, "You won't find much in that book you know"

I grunted in annoyance. "Thanks for telling me sooner by the way" his smirk caught my eye and I had to bite my tongue from sinking to his level. "Fine! Which book is it I need then Mr. Smarty Pants?"

"Its in the restricted section, I suppose I could show you as I have a little time to spare and you are struggling" And with that I was being led over to Madam Pince's desk, her shrieking tones of apprehension lingering over us all the way to the restricted section up the back of the library where she reluctantly let us enter.

"It's that one there" He pointed to another larger than life book on the top of the nearby shelving unit. I looked to him with slight puppy dog eyes as he glared down at me, "Well aren't you going to summon it?"

"I left my wand in my bag out in the library" I mumbled before smiling the sweetest smile I could muster, hoping that even grumpy Severus Snape wasn't immune to the womanly powers of persuasion.

He groaned slightly before pulling out his wand and summoning the book towards himself, levitating it in the air before him as it reached his face. He strided off back towards the way we had just came. I followed him without needing to be told twice, extremely thankful that he wasn't asking me to carry the book that looked to weigh as much as myself. "I assume you can still open doors" he sniped as he nodded towards the door separating the restricted section from the rest of the library.

"Sorry!" I called before running to open the large mahogany door. He didn't give me a second glance as he brushed past me and back towards the table we had left only moments ago. I took in his scent as his shoulder rubbed up against mine; musky with a hint of something fresh. A herb of some sorts._ Mint perhaps?_ Whatever it was, it was tantalizing all the same. He didn't wear cologne that was sure, it was the own scent of his ivory skin that I smelled. So unlike most boys who were overly doused in aftershave or something else overpowering that made me want to gag.

Before I knew it we were back at the abandoned desk in the all but empty library. "I will leave you to it then" He nodded as he placed the book on the cluttered table beside us and turned to leave.

I looked from the large book to the retreating form of Severus Snape and back again. _Why was he just leaving me here all alone?_ "Wait!" I called as I ran after him, his form stiffening slightly as I grabbed his arm from behind to slow his pace. "Thank you for helping me with the book Severus, I know you didn't need to and I want you to know that I appreciate it"

Heavy breathing was all I could hear for a few unnerving seconds before he finally responded, not even bothering to turn and face me as he did so. "It was no trouble Olivia, see you in class tomorrow" And with that he marched off and was soon lost in the rows upon rows of bookcases that littered the library floor.

I sighed happily as I turned to head back to my table and finish of my essay before curfew, but was immediately cut off my Madam Pince's pencil thin form blocking my way.

"Any more of that shouting Miss White and you will be finishing your studying somewhere else, like detention. That clear?" She scolded in a tone I was sure was only audible to dolphins. Her hands were placed on her non-existent hips as her thin lips scowled down at me, smokers lines and wrinkles littering the skin around her mouth.

"Crystal" I smiled falsely as I made my way round her and back to my desk. Her scoffing lingered over me for a moment more before I felt her glare leave my back, small scurrying footsteps following after. I pushed the book Severus recommended to me open before scanning its pages furiously, intent on making as much notes as possible so I could return the book and leave the library as soon as I could. There was no way I was staying in here with tall, thin and condescending looking over my shoulder constantly. I would finish the rest of my essay in my room, with no-one to bother me but my own messed up thoughts, and mature and distracting daydreams of Severus Snape.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Black and White

_**Severus' POV**_

The dungeons were always cold this time of year, despite all the heating charms that had been placed on all of the schools bottom floors. The Scottish winters could be quite harsh this high up. Not that I minded much, I was used to the cold from staying in the coldest part of the castle for almost sevens years now, I would even go as far to suggest that I liked the cold. It was constant down here and offered familiarity. Something I liked a lot.

"What are you going as for Halloween? I heard that the six and seventh years are having a ball on the 31st!"

"A bumble bee, my mum got me it as she says it makes me look cute. Its not funny!"

"I can't wait until I am in sixth year, then we can go to all the balls and go to Hogsmeade and do anything! Its so boring being a second year"

_Idiots_, I thought as I passed the two immature girls in the common room. Thoughts full of nothing but silly mundane things when they should be studying, or doing something actually productive at least. Sitting around gossiping was something I never saw the point in doing. I managed to shoot them a rather large scowl that made them yelp slightly as they recoiled further into the green leather couch beneath them. _Halloween balls and playing dress up?_ How ridiculous! What did Dumbledore expect these frivolous activities to do? It was a sorry excuse for people to dress up in something ridiculously scanty and flounce about while trying desperately to attract the other genders attention. Then there's _Potter_ and his crew spiking the punch and strutting around like they own the place. Not my idea of fun at all.

I quickly made my way across the length of the common room and out into the less than welcoming corridors. The loud thumping of my booted feet resounding off the cold stone walls, as I swiftly made my way further into the bottom of the school. The dungeons were always empty this time of morning as most people where at lunch still, or doing something else unproductive with their valuable time. I had chosen to have a quick lunch for the past few Fridays so I could arrive early for potions class. Slughorn had chosen to not only give Olivia detentions now if she was late, but me also. I felt it was some sort of stand to make the bothersome Gryffindor think about how her actions effected others, but needless to say, I had little trust in his plan to work. Surprisingly, she had been on time the last few lessons, but my lack of trusting instincts told me that she would inevitably fail sooner or later. She would show her true Gryffindor colours eventually.

"Ah, Severus nice to see you arriving ahead of time, as usual" The eccentric head of Slytherin addressed me as I entered the brightly lit empty classroom. Seems I am the first to arrive, as per usual. "No Miss White with you I see? You better hope she arrives in the next ten minutes my boy or I will be forced to stick by my words and give you both detention"

I nodded respectfully before heading to my seat. Although part of me wanted to blame the old fart for making such a ridiculous rule up, my hatred towards Potter and Olivia's association with him and his _cronies_ was making me want to place the blame fully on her if I ended up having to spend my Saturday cleaning up the potions store rooms.

The minutes passed as numerous students made their way into the room, causing chaos as they took their seats. I fixed the numerous objects on my desk as I felt anger start to bubble up inside of me from the lack of person sitting besides me. _I knew she could never be anything but a lousy Gryffindor!_

"I'm sorry to have to do this Severus, but-" Slughorn began to address me before a loud slamming noise sounded behind me cutting him off.

"I am so so sorry Sir!" a very familiar female voice called as rushed footsteps made their way over to me. "There was an incident at lunch and I was delayed, won't happen again"

I held my gaze to the front, determined not to look at my Potions partner in fear of what I would utter at her in front of Slughorn, no doubt gaining myself another unwarranted detention.

"I am sorry Miss White, but a deal is a-"

"Well I will take both detentions then" Olivia exclaimed as she sat next to me at our desk. Her gaze burning a hole in my back almost. "It wasn't Severus' fault at all and I don't want him to suffer for something that he didn't do"

The chatter and laughter of our fellow students was non-existent now, the sight of someone helping me out was obviously something of a spectacle. Why? Well obviously as the actual thought of someone wanting to spare me any discomfort was insane and incomprehensible to them. Even the overly stout Slughorn looked taken a back from Olivia's comment.

"Well, ehm, if you are sure Miss White, but...but it better not happen again or I will be sticking true to my words and Mr Snape will be joining you in detention the next time, no matter what you say"

_Was he really just going to stand there and change his word like it was nothing but a casual statement he had said two weeks ago?_ Where was his Slytherin side? If I was head of Slytherin I would follow through with all my threats as going back on your word only made you seem weak and easy to walk all over in future. There was no way she was ever going to make an effort to come in early now if he was just letting her off that easily!

"Sir! I want to decline Miss _White's _offer and accept my detention, in hopes that she will further learn her lesson in the future" I was fighting hard to control the anger I felt towards the Gryffindor next to me. _Did I seem like I wanted to be defended in front of the whole class by a girl? A Gryffinder girl no less!_ I could feel every students eyes on me as I talked, I could hear their murmurings and their stifled giggles as they no doubt gossiped about how pathetic I was being.

"Well if you insist Severus" Slughorn stated, looking quite baffled by my statement, "I shall make arrangements for you both for Saturday" he walked over towards his desk and firmly tapped the table with his wand. "Now if everyone could just settle down now, we can begin our continuation of the Fretful Potion"

All noise instantly stopped, soon to be replaced by the scratching of quills and the shuffling of parchments. I myself began inking my own quill in preparation for the class to begin, anything to take me from turning to my left and seeing the person who occupied the seat next to me.

"Why did you do that?" a whispering tone ushered beside me. I should of known she wouldn't be able to just let me be, she never does.

"I do not need you to pity me, _White_" I need to stop this name switching. I should of never started on first name basis with her at all, I should of trusted my gut instinct and rejected her presence next to me in class the moment Slughorn had suggested it. _Damn her and her infuriating smile and intoxicating aroma_. The moment I had turned to her that day, the sight of her smile wiped anything logical from my brain making me feel awkward and unsure. Something I rarely ever was. Then there was when I had sat next to her for the first time only last month, who knew someone could smell so intoxicatedly sweet? I'm not usually one for sweet things, except maybe the odd chocolate here and there, but the aroma off of her was something else. She smelled like a candy store, like sugar canes and strawberry snaps, only with a hint of something muskier and deeper underneath. I knew it was something natural and not manually applied, like other females who smelled like they had taken a bath in numerous over scented flowers and overpowering vanilla. Sickly sweet and suffocating I might add.

"Severus?" a small white hand touched my shoulder as she spoke. Another thing I disliked about her, that constant need to touch me and invade my privacy barriers. I hated the way it made me feel, all light headed and sweaty. "Severus I'm sorry. I never meant to show you up, I promise" I could feel her gaze locked on me as I continued to write, trying my best to concentrate on Slughorn and not on the increasingly enticing person next to me. "If it means anything, I think it's a silly idea that Slughorn came up with. Don't get me wrong, It did make me wake up early and rush lunch the past two weeks as not to get you in trouble, but over all its a bad idea"

_She has been actually trying to not get me detention? Slughorn's bizarre idea worked?_ "But why?" I murmured aloud accidentally.

"Well I wouldn't want to sit next to you for the rest of the year all grumpy, would I?" She laughed slightly before copying down something off the board and hiding from Slughorn's watchful eyes. "Plus, what sort of friend would I be if I took you down with me, eh?"

_Friend? _My head snapped to hers just in time to see her duck her own head, her red flaming hair hiding her face from my view. _Did she really think I was her friend?_ No, she was friends with _them_ and...and Lily... Surely she hated me like they did?

"Right, time to start making and stop writing! Here is the ingredients you will need, and page 543 in your advanced Potions book shall tell you all you should need to know" Olivia raised her head at the sound of Slughorn's baritone voice and began flicking through her personal copy of _Potions Remastered_. "You have until the end of the period to brew a successful potion. You may start, now"

"Olivi-" I began, unsure of where I was planning on going with my conversation. I wasn't going to apologise, I never apologise, and why should I? She should be on time for class like most other students anyway, so wasn't doing me a favour in the slightest by rushing to be on time.

"I will go get the ingredients, can you get the cauldron up and boiling please?" She declared, cutting me off and saving me from thinking of what I was going to say. _This is going to be a long hour_, I thought as I set up the cauldron on our table.

* * *

"You defended him!" Lexi exclaimed as I scooped some Yorkshire puddings onto my plate. I grunted in frustration as I spotted my friends shocked expression.

"I didn't defend him per say, I just asked to do his detention for him as it wasn't even his to do in the first place really. Stupid Slughorn and his bizarre ideas"

She shot me a look before placing a small helpful of mashed potatoes onto her own plate. "Olivia, half the schools been talking about it, about how you declared you didn't want _Severus" _her hand miming his name as her mouth scowled it out, "to suffer for something you had did. Lilly and the rest are gonna blow a fuse when they hear this! Which they will you know" She raised her perfectly arched eye brow at me, "And you know how the muggle game of Chinese whispers goes don't you?"

I physically gulped as the full realisation of what I had did finally sunk in. I had stood in front of my mainly Slytherin potions class and declared that I wanted to help a Slytherin out by doing their detention. _Me_, a Gryffindor! Close friends with Lily Evans and ex snogging partner of Sirius Black, the two founders of the 'Severus Snape haters anonymous' club. _Crap! I am dead!_ Officially six feet under when they find out! I glanced around the Gryffinder table and noticed a few people talking amongst themselves, some pointing to me as they did so. Merlin knows what the story was now. It was no doubt twisted to resemble something along the lines of me standing declaring my undying love to Snape while performing the can can. Okay, the can can bit might be way off, I can hardly walk at the best of times let alone dance with my two left feet, but the me declaring my love part? Not entirely far from the truth is it? I mean, I _am_ secretly drooling over the dude already, the next logical stage would be declaring that I wanna see what's lurking under his robes. Which I do...desperately. I sighed heavily as I dropped my head to the table, banging it off the mahogany wood for good measure.

"Don't worry Ollie, it's not that bad. I mean I did over hear one sixth year Hufflepuff saying to his friends that you and Snape were seen actually getting it on in class, but that's the worse I've heard really"

A strangled noise escaped my lips as I snapped my head sharply to the blonde sitting next to me. "Please please tell me you are kidding, right?"

Her stoic face reddened as she burst out into a fit of laughter. "Of course I am! Snape may be weird, but he is certainly not the hot topic of the school" she nodded her head at me, "And neither are you either, my dear"

"I know I know, your hilarious and I am not!"

"Seriously though Olivia, there has been a few different variations of the story" she said as she nibbled at her steak pie, "ones that will no doubt ruffle certain peoples feathers. If you know what I mean"

Before I could even communicate my feelings on the matter though, a shadow loomed over us. A strangely calm voice speaking over our heads. "Ruffle whose feathers?"

_Shit! Kill. Me. Now..._


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yup, another chapter. I really should be writing the new chapter of my LOTR fic, but i just can't seem to get enough of Olivia and Sevrus' relationship, so i hope you guys enjoy! I also hope that the person who creeped up on Olivia last chapter was not who the majority of yous expected, and that the nice longness and humour of this chapter satifies your cravings until i manage to churn out the next chap. Lol. which will be, drum roll please! Haha, the detention chapter! Now what shall Sev and Olli get up to during detention i wonder... :P any ideas are welcome btw, whether they be for the detention chapter or for any other situation you would like to see Severus and Olivia caught up in :P Please READ and REVIEW! :]**

Chapter Six: Knickers

I could literally feel my insides twisting as the figure moved to my left and sat down, pulling a plate of vanilla cheesecake over as they did so.

"So, whose feathers are you ruffling now Olivia? Doesn't take you long to make enemies with that mouth of yours does it?"

Lexi nervously laughed next to me as I nudged her face into her own dessert of sticky toffee pudding. I needed to shut her up before she started to lie, horrendously. "Just nothing you know" I started rambling as I began pushing about the cold food on my dinner plate, "Just some gossip is all. Load of rubbish though ain't it Lex?"

I looked over to my best friend, whose ability to lie was even worse than my own, to see her wiping toffee sauce and dates off her face. A large scowl firmly fixed on her lips as she stared me down. It wasn't the first time I had distracted Lexi, but I had a feeling It was going to be the last from the look she was now giving me. It was a cross between the scowl Madam Pince was usually shooting at me and the sexy angriness that Sirius Black was oh so famous for. Jeez, were them two made for each other or what? "Yes we were talking about nothing specific at all where we Olivia? Nothing whatsoever to do with Olivia in the slightest, and certainly nothing to do with her acting stupid around a certain Slytherin or anything like that. I mean why on earth would Olivia ever want to be seen hanging around with a creepy Slytherin?"

I enlarged my eyes at her as I mentally screamed at her to _shut up_! I know I shouldn't have dunked her in her plate of pudding, but c'mon, she was basically dropping me in it with that statement. I gave her one more daring look before turning to Lily and smiling brightly. A bit too brightly perhaps as she was now eyeing me suspiciously as she ate her dessert, her eyebrows furrowed as she gazed between my worried expression and Lexi's rather chuffed one. She likes her revenge Lexi does, another trait she and her man crush seemed to have in common. I was starting to think they were each others shadows recently...

"Erm, okay..." she mumbled as she laughed slightly, her eyes shifting about the table as though she was looking for some help on this matter. I didn't blame her in the slightest, we were acting rather crazy at the present moment. Although, Lily technically should be used to it by now as me and Lexi rarely ever acted normal. "I was only asking guys, no need to be so shifty!"

"Were not shifty! Whose being shifty?" I exclaimed as I moved around in my place between the two intense gazes of my friends; one whose face was biting back laughter, and the other who looked thoroughly confused by my actions. The laughter and chatter of the rest of the students in the great hall was ringing in my ears making me very aware of the fact that we were in public and I couldn't just run off and hide somewhere and pretend this conversation never happened.

"You two are certainly acting weird" Lily said as she finished up her cake, I gave her a bewildered look before she added, "well, weirder than normal that is" she raised an eyebrow at me and Lexi as she continued, "But I'm in a too good of a mood to even care what it is you guys are hiding. Do I even want to know?" she glanced at me and Lexi's cringing expressions, "Nope. I don't! So I'm not going to even ask as it will no doubt be bad and I don't want to give either of you detentions, well not today at least"

Now it was my turn to look confused and take this opportunity to change the subject. "So what's responsible for making you crack a smile then Lily? Something major no doubt as you usually just keep smiles to special occasions and holidays"

She firmly ignored my teasing comment and continued like I hadn't even spoken, flipping her orange coloured hair to the side as she did so. People sometimes thought me and Lily to look alike, as though we were sisters, until they got to know us that is and they realised that couldn't be further from the truth. I may share Lily's red hair and green eyes, but my personality was much snappier than hers and she was well more short tempered and fakely sweet, unlike moi. The day I ever sugar coat something for someone is the day hell will freeze over I am afraid. "My date last Saturday was amazing! James is such a sweetheart!"

Lexi gave me an all knowing look as she pushed her abandoned dessert away from her, no doubt in case I felt the need to dunk her head in it again. "So I take it we wont be hearing you complaining about James any more then? Wont be hearing about how irritatingly annoying and horrid he is? How he is the biggest loser in the whole sch-"

Lily's daydreaming face instantly vanished and was replaced with a more sheepish looking one. "yeah, I get it Lexi. I am the biggest hypocrite known to man" she sighed heavily before her eyes glossed over in a daze again, "But I guess I just never gave James a chance before. I mean who knew that underneath the prankster pulling annoying twat that is Potter, lies a sweet romantic and entertaining boy called James"

"Ehm, we did!" I laughed as I spooned the last of my chocolate fudge cake into my mouth and pushed the plate off to one side, my stomach actually feeling as though it was ready to burst. "Me and Lexi have had to listen to nothing but James Potter quizzing us over you and declaring how much he adores you, and insisting how we should put a good word in for him, and blah Lily this and blah Lily that for like what? The last six years or so!" I ignored the slight tinge of red that had just crept up on Lily's cheeks, "So trust me Lily, we know!"

Lexi nodded her head furiously in agreement, her long blonde hair bobbing about her face as she did so. "We had even contemplated not talking to you again just so James would leave us alone!"

Lily shot us one of her 'are you serious' looks before shaking her head. "Right well that was some wonderful information I have just been told. Will remember to bank that for future reference" she glanced at her watch briefly before standing up, straightening her robes and Head Girl badge as she did so. "Well I better get going, told James I would meet him after dinner to do our Head Girl and Boy duties together. Speak to you two later in the common room, yeah?"

"Of course, it would be impolite of us to not listen to your loving ramblings about James after we had to listen to six years worth of hatred filled ones. What kind of friends would we be then eh?" I laughed as Lily shook her head at my constant need to be sarcastic. What can I say? I like my humour dry, like my wine.

She waved at us before making a hasty exit from the great hall, shaking her head as she did so. I couldn't say if I was glad or not about Lily and James new found relationship. I know there is apparently a thin line between love and hate, but how Lily could go from hating the boys guts to gushing about how wonderful he was in a blink of an eye, was beyond me. I personally always thought of Lily as slightly cruel to treat James the way she had for all them years. Yes he could be a major pain in the ass at times and seriously lacked the ability to know when a joke stopped being funny and needing abandoned, but everyone and their mother could easily see how much he genuinely cared for her. I mean who else would continuously pursue someone after being publically shot down and humiliated so many times you lost count? Exactly, no-one but James Potter it seemed, and you wouldn't just put yourself through all that over just a silly crush now would you? Precisely my point. All this thinking about James and Lily made me think of my own crush suddenly and I realised I hadn't ogled him for at least a good three hours now. _What is wrong with me?_ I took this as an opportunity to stare about the great hall for my dark haired grease ball in armour. My eyes rested on a hunched figure at the Slytherin table behind me. Ah_, found him! _I thought as I smiled to myself. He was scribbling furiously away into his book, as per usual. Although what he hid in between them maroon pages was beyond me, he always had it hugged tightly against himself whenever he wasn't writing in it. To say I was extremely interested in what he was writing in it would be an understatement, I would literally kill to see what juicy secrets he was hiding between them pages. Well not literally kill someone obviously, but maybe hex them a little. It would be worth it to get a glimpse into his usually solitude lifestyle.

"You do realise that you are attracting attention to yourself by staring at him?" Lexi turned round on the bench so she was facing the same way as me, opposite of our table. "I was wondering when you would of noticed that you were sitting on the wrong side of the table for _drooling. _I have to say I'm surprised you lasted the whole of dinner without staring at him. Must be a personal record!_"_

"I only realised I hadn't had my hourly Severus fix a few minutes ago, I must be slowly weaning myself off him as I agree it is a new record! I'm almost cured! You must be so happy for me Lexi" I smirked as I continued my drooling session. _Merlin I was a total creep! No wonder I fancied the creepiest man of Hogwarts, I was almost as odd as him_. I involuntary shivered. _Well, maybe not as odd as him, but definitely close. _I saw the form of Severus shift slightly, his head leaving the table and looking around him. His intense black orbs locked onto my bright green ones and I almost yelped in surprise. _Oh no! He's looking he's looking! _I whirled around on my spot on the bench, trying desperately not to get caught drooling by the man himself, and ended up falling on my arse. In front of the majority of the school I might add, while flashing half the people from the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw table my flower printed granny knickers. It is wash day, what can I say?

"Seriously kill me now. Kill. Me. Now!" I muttered to myself as I pulled my scarlet lined cloak over my head in shame. _Maybe if I lie here long enough people will just get on with their business and not notice me?_

"Ehm Olivia" Lexi's nervous voice whispered as a hand firmly shook my shoulder, wolf whistles and laughter howling about around us as she spoke. "Please get up as everyone is starting to stare in our direction"

_Bugger. My plan of being invisible has failed_. I frowned for a moment before resigning that it was most likely about time to face the music and try to escape the great hall with the little dignity I still had left, which was dwindling away by the second it seemed.

"Wow! That narcolepsy sure creeps in at inappropriate moments doesn't it?" I voiced loudly as I stretched, trying my hardest to avoid the numerous perplexed gazes of my fellow student body. Unfortunately catching a few of the wolf whistling males gazes anyway, their faces filled with mirth as they either winked or smirked in my direction. _Just what I need, to gain a personal stalker of my own now!_ "Lexi do you mind escorting me to my room please? Just in case I have another episode, don't fancy falling down the stone stairs as well today!" I laughed nervously as I tugged on Lexi's sleeve until she was standing next to me, then began dragging her off in the direction of the entrance hall. Not even daring to see if any of the Professors at the head table had noticed my little débâcle.

"You are an idiot by the way!" she hissed to me through clenched teeth as she attempted to smile at the people still staring at us. Most of them had seemed to turn back to their desserts and own conversations, but some where still staring, laughing manically no doubt at my shame. "What sort of lame excuse was that? Everyone now probably thinks you are mentally unstable!"

"I panicked OK? Just get me out of here before he sees me as I am already embarrassed enough" I hissed back, ducking my head as I scurried towards the tall mahogany doors leading to freedom. "Besides, people think I'm bonkers anyway, so I'm not fussed"

"Bit late for that Olli, he is looking right at us and shaking his head. Think you can add another person onto the already large list of people who think you are crazy" She looked down at me before continuing, "Next time, please don't drag me into as I still have the majority of the school under the illusion that I am actually sane. Don't need you tarnishing my reputation do I?"

I gulped at her words, totally ignoring her last statement as we both knew she would always be crazy by association, before chancing a small glance over to where I knew my _Mr. Creepy_ was sitting. The sight that met my eyes was shocking to say the least. _He's laughing at me?_ I thought as I saw him leaning into who looked like Sirius' younger brother, Regulas, who was pointing in my direction and laughing himself. Since when was he friends with Black? Now, he was dodgy, well according to Sirius anyway.I sighed heavily. _The first time I actually see Severus crack a real genuine smile is at me falling and exposing my larger than life knickers? Great! _I pushed my way through the mahogany doors and immediately slapped myself for being such an idiot the moment they closed behind us.

"I don't think I have ever seen Snape smile before! Certainly never seen him laugh!" Lexi coughed out before she too, burst out out laughing at my expense. "Least you...know how to...make him smile from...now...on!" She managed out between her bouts of unabashed laughter. The few people who were making their way across the entrance hall shot us scared and curious glances, no doubt adding to the claim that we were mentally not all there.

"Nice to know he finds me making a complete tit out of myself so funny" I mumbled as we began making our way up the stairs and towards the common room. "You don't see me laughing when James and that pull pranks on him, making him look like an idiot do you?"

"Stop being such a big sissy about it! He never laughs at anything, or even _with_ anyone for that matter, not even when he was friends with Lily" Lexi said matter of factly before she spoke the password to the Fat Lady's portrait. The over weight woman shaking her head at us as she granted us access.

I followed Lexi absent-mindedly through the portrait hole as I began to think her words over. _He never laughed like that before did he? Maybe, maybe I was starting to actually grow on him._ I smiled at the thought. _Me making Severus Snape laugh! Who would of thought it?_ Sigh, we are actually made for each other...technically. In my head anyway. I smiled delusionally to myself as I all but skipped up to our dorm room.

* * *

"Olivia, could you pass me up that Quidditch Weekly magazine please? Your closer to it than I am" Sirius' absent-minded tones cut across the hubble and bubble of the Gryffindor common room as he lounged back in one of the only comfy seat in this place; the large plump leather couch. I gave him a look from my position two spaces away from him on the same couch I might add, before raising my eyebrow in a 'why should I?' sort of way. "Please? Be a doll will you? My backs aching from tonight's Quidditch practice"

I scoffed in reluctant agreement as I bent down to the floor to pick up the abandoned Quidditch magazine that was under the table, next to where I was sitting. I had to bend right over to reach it as it was quite far under the table, whoever had chucked it under there would certainly be getting an earful from James if he was here just now, he didn't take kindly to people misusing anything that was related to Quidditch. Was actually quite sad and OCD of him, poor sod not having any other hobbies. No wait, he was rather into stalking his crush like myself. _Great, I have a fellow weirdo to associate myself with now_.

"Yup, that's it right...about...there!" I heard Sirius say behind me as though I was helping him scratch a hard to reach place of some sorts. I furrowed my eyebrows as I shook my head in frustration. _Men! _I thought as I finally managed to grab a hold of the thick magazine. _Aha got you! You little toerag! _I cheered mentally to myself as I resurfaced from my spot and retook my position on the sofa once more, handing a very happy looking Sirius his requested magazine as I crossed my legs and readjusted my rather short school skirt. I did not want a repeat performance of lunch, thank you very much.

"Here you lazy sod! Next time get off your own arse and go get it yourself"

"Hmm..." he mumbled as he began flicking through random pages, almost as though he wasn't even interested in reading it. "I must say though Olivia, I have to disagree with old Toby Banks of Ravenclaw and say that your exquisite undergarments are covered with pink roses and not red ones, as he had told me earlier. He should take a closer look next time, maybe book a prime time seat next to us for a better show?"

My mouth fell open in utter shock. _The sly bastard!_ I thought as I shot my 'I hate you glare' at him just in time to see him toss his unread magazine to the side like it was rubbish. I knew I should never of got that for him. _When will I ever learn round him? He was constantly pulling stuff like this on girls. Pervert! "_So that's the reason I was asked to crawl around on the floor like a dog then I presume?" I hissed out at him, earning a large smirk in return.

"Of course love. I had missed the prime time show so thought I should get a little backstage glimpse, see what all the gossip was about" he smoothly replied as he leaned over to the table next to him and took a sip from whatever was in his cup, before continuing again. His eyes searching my body with a rather large twinkle evident in his eye. "I must say though, you never wore anything like that when you were with me" My scowl deepened as I continued to glare at him, my arms now crossed tightly over my chest hoping somehow to shield myself from his ever searching gaze. He however seemed to think my actions were because of another reason. "Ah right, that special monthly time then? Got it" He casually said as he winked the last two words at me. _Merlin was Sirius Black annoying, and nosy I might add!_

I rolled my eyes at him, firmly used to way he casually spoke of topics that would make almost any other man squirm if brought up. No, but not the ever charming Sirius Black, he took everything in his stride it seemed. "It's actually just wash day if you must know" I replied casually back, uncrossing my legs and holding them tightly shut together while doing so. Nothing really phased me either, it seemed. "And if you are referring to them lacy numbers I wore last year, they are now only reserved for special people, which most definitely doesn't cover you!" I poked a finger into his rock solid chest to try and further my point. I swore I could hear some of the Gryffindor girls growling behind me at my ease of touching one of the hottest boys in the school. _Idiots!_

He pouted for a moment as I began laughing at him, his own laughter soon joining my own. "Trust me Olli, I don't ever want to go there again either as its just..." He paused for a second as he searched for the perfect word. _Gross? Minging? Crime of the century perhaps?_ "Wrong!" _Nope, just plain good old wrong. I can handle that._

"Yup, I seriously don't know what we were thinking, but I would feel like I was committing incest if anything happened now" I laughed as I made a face which clearly conveyed my disgust to Sirius, as his laughter seemed to get even louder. Attracting some glances from our fellow Gryffindor's.

"I fully agree!" He nodded as he settled further into the red leather couch, several six and seventh year girls were now glaring our way. No doubt upset that I was making the eligible bachelor that is Sirius laugh and not them. _Brain dead fools! _I hated pretentious girls, which was saying a lot considering my best friend was one of the best examples of one. Difference was though, she was genuinely pretty with good grades and brains to back her up. Not a trait many of the girls in this room could admit to, including me! I brought my now stoic gaze back to rest on Sirius to see him staring at me, a very similar looking expression on his face also as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides before speaking. "Olivia, I hate to ruin the mood and all, but..." he looked around almost nervously before he continued, his face holding back what I assumed was anger as he spoke, "but I just have to ask if its true. Is something going on between you and...and _Snivillus?"_ He spat out the last word like it was venomous. _Oh dear Lord!_

I gazed down at my now fidgeting hands not quite knowing what to say. Although I wasn't actually dating him, I knew he deserved an explanation to whatever rumour he had heard today. I was doing the chasing so therefore I was the one that would no doubt need a good sorting out, and I didn't like the sound of that. An image of an 'Y_ou shouldn't like Snape_' intervention being held in this very room with all four Marauders, Lily, Lexi and me as the guest of honour, sitting in the armchair in the centre of the room getting an earful from them all was enough to make me physically gulp. "Apparently there are some rumours going about, which aren't entirely true I might add..." I attempted to casually say as I began flicking through an abandoned charms book that was lying on the sofa between me and Sirius.

The noise from the other students in the common room seemed to not matter as Sirius raised an eyebrow at me and sat up straight as a board on his spot on the couch. "And why would there be rumours like that just floating about, eh?" his face contorting into something sinister as he continued, "I swear if he's been trying something on with you, or spreading horrid rumours around about you, he will regret the day he was ever born!"

I shifted in my seat slightly as I realised I should probably just come clean about the whole detention thing before this got out of hand. "Slughorn was gonna give Sev-_Snape" _I caught myself just in time_,_ "a detention if I was late, which I was as usual, and I told him I would take it instead as it wasn't anyone's fault but mine" I rushed out the last part in record time as I quickly snatched the charms book into my lap and began reading a random page. Anything to stop myself from looking at the other occupant of the couch, who was tensing slightly, anger evident on his features as his fists clenched and unclenched. _Oh my, Severus was definitely gonna get pounded now..._

"Let me get this right, you offered to do a detention for a Slytherin, greasy chops himself actually, and didn't relish in this wonderful opportunity instead to get Slughorn to give _Snivillus_ as many detentions as you could?"

I processed his reasoning before I realised just how stupid I looked now. I had been given an opportunity to land a Slytherin several detentions and instead, I chose to try and barter myself into twice as many just to save some snake hind. _Merlin this isn't looking good for me either now..._

_How to save myself, _I thought. _Aha! Light bulb!_ "Either way my offer was declined so he has detention Saturday now also, and will most likely have again as I can never seem to be on time. I only offered in the first place as I didn't want to spend a detention with him" _Well that was a downright lie! _I thought as I grimaced, not from spending time with Severus, but from how easily I was finding lying about my true feelings to my friends was. To be honest though, detention wouldn't have been my first choice to spend an evening with Severus, but in the position I was in, there wasn't room to be picky! I doubted he would be up for a bit of room of requirement action, so detention it was!

I noticed the tightly wound Sirius had stopped staring at me now and was now firmly staring at his lap. "So now you have to spend a good few hours with just him, and him alone this Saturday?" I nodded in agreement, Sirius' shoulders tensing even more as I confirmed his thoughts, "Don't worry Olivia, I will personally see to it that he won't be going anywhere on Saturday, never mind detention" _Shit!_ _Not what I had planned at all!_

"There's really no need!" I quickly said, perhaps a little too quickly as Sirius was now eyeing me again with apprehension, "I am sure a detention with Slughorn will be more punishment to him than anything you and James can pull off, I mean nothing you two have pulled has affected him before has it?" He nodded reluctantly in agreement as I continued, "Besides, I'm the Queen of detention and he is just a newbie, he won't know what has hit him!"

Sirius nodded again, in what I assumed was agreement to my lame plan, as he casually crossed his legs, his hands now unclenched and leaning absent mindedly against his toned stomach, "Well I pity you Olivia, but I 'spose you're right. Maybe detention might be the worse thing that can happen to him as we all know how much he prides himself on his impeccable clean record, don't we?"

"Hmm, I am sure it will be terrible no doubt..." I half mumbled, ignoring half the things that he had just said as I thought of all the silly things that could go wrong in detention with me being present. _What if I flash my granny knickers at him again? Oh no, not a chance! My fancy ones are well going on just in case_, I thought. I glanced at Sirius and noticed he was staring at me oddly, as though trying to place my reactions somehow but failing.

"You sure you don't just want me and James to _sort him out_ for you, eh?" Sirius' now smiling face asked, his wand twirling in his fingers as he no doubt was thinking of all the horrible ways to torture poor Severus. _I couldn't let that happen!_ I thought as I smiled weakly back at him, my mind trying its best to think of some sort of idea that would get him off my back and leave Severus alone, for a little while anyway.

"It's fine!" I rushed out as I set my gaze firmly onto the book I was holding again. "I will sort him out with my own punishment. One he most definitely deserves..." I mumbled to myself as a sly smirk graced my face. _Oh yes, my own punishment indeed!_

Sirius' cutting tones tones pushed their way into my x-rated thoughts however bringing me back to reality. "Whatever you say, but if he even so much as glares at you funny, getting a detention will be the least of his worries!" _Pfft! Men and their need to puff out their chests and act all manly. Immature fools!_ "Oh and Olli?" Sirius said in a more amused tone causing me to pop my head out and around my book. "You're reading that book upside down" And with that he burst out laughing causing me to blush slightly as I turned the book right way round. _Merlin I am a total idiot!_


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Right so here is the long awaited detention chapter, might not be to everyones liking but i like suspence so tough! Lol. :P Hope yous are enjoying the humour in this fic and i shall be adding more drama into the mix in later chapters also. They are in the midst of a war so there should be some dark moments i feel. Not too many though! Lol. Anyways, please READ and REVIEW as always. Thanks. :]**

Chapter Seven: Detention

_Ooh eggs! Scrambled as well, must be my day_, I thought as I scooped three large ladle spoons worth of scrambled eggs onto my plate and next to four strips of bacon and five plump and sizzling sausages. _What can I say? I am greedy!_ My mother would always comment, when I was home, about how someone somewhere was starving because my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and I am withholding food from them, then wasting it by never finishing a meal. Needless to say, her speeches never seemed to have any effect on me, even if they did sometimes strike a chord when I looked at boys like Eugene Daily from Hufflepuff. I seriously doubted that he had ever been fed since he had been sent here six years ago, and that was some feat considering all the delicacies Hogwarts had on offer at each and every meal. No wonder I had to sign up for the gym every summer as I usually came back at least a stone heavier than what I had arrived. Not that I bothered much about my weight, I was naturally hippy, not curvy I must say, but hippy, and it suited me fine. Love handles and all! Now Eugene Daily on the other hand did not suit looking gaunt and being a life like version of a cheese string. His arms were all long and limp looking and his arse never ever seemed to fill a pair of bottoms. _Yup, I stare at men's behinds. I am a pervert!_ But c'mon! It is the seventies and arse hugging bell bottoms are everywhere, I ask you _not_ to look at their arses! Physically impossible I tell you.

"Are you planning on starting weight training by any chance Olivia?" Lexi's melodic tones asked as she sat down next to me. She had chosen to go to the Library before breakfast with Lily to study, even though it was a Saturday and there was a full two days to cram essay writing and studying into before classes Monday. I waited for Lily to sit down beside her but noticed she was alone. Lily was no doubt off with James. They had been inseparable since their date last Saturday. Maybe there was a very thin line between love and hate after all. One that apparently was very easy to overcome.

"Nope, I am just ravenous as I skipped dessert last night" This was true, although I had eaten a full steak for dinner so technically was too full to even look at a dessert then, never mind contemplating eating one.

"Hmm, was just hoping there was some reason why you seem to be eating for two" she replied smirking as she grabbed a small bowl of granola, her head suddenly snapping to mines as her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "You're not pregnant are you?" I choked on a sausage as she said this, probably not the best food to be eating while discussing topics like this. Her still enlarged eyes searched my own shocked ones before falling on my little round tummy which had nothing in it but blubber, "Please tell me that's full of sausages and not little, dare I even say it aloud, little Snape's!"

"Eww! Babies... Hell no Lexi, give me some credit please!" _Right put the sausage down as my appetite's totally and thoroughly gone_, I mentally told myself as I pushed my still overflowing plate away from me and hastily grabbed my glass of orange juice. I needed the taste of sausages out my mouth now as the mental image of me actually bearing children scorched into my mind forever. I am not stating I hate children per say, just that the thought of me ever having to look after my own made me physically ill. I couldn't even look after myself never mind little mini mes! They would most likely be little Devil's as my DNA definitely wasn't normal in the slightest. Then another mental image popped into my head; the process of baby making with Severus. Lexi did say little Snape's after all. I smiled lazily as I fully absorbed myself into my new daydream, which was much more interesting than the last I must say...

"Hey! Stop being smutty and pay attention will you!" Lexi huffed as she swatted my arm with her hand, silver nail polish decorating her manicured fingers today. I briefly stole a glance at my own chipped black finger nails and instantly hid them under the table. _Seriously when does she find time to do all this pruning?_ "As I was saying, I think if you two ever conceived the children would most definitely be taken off you. Between you living like the un-dead and refusing to be awoken before noon for nothing but Potions, and him" she discreetly pointed over to the Slytherin table where a very brooding looking Severus sat nibbling on toast, very unaware that we were discussing me and his children at the moment thank Merlin, "he would have a rabbit taken off him he is that uncivilized! The healers would take one look at him in St. Mungo's and call you an exorcist instead of a doctor!"

I shot her the evils as I eyed Severus over. He was definitely strange and dark, but he was also handsome and kind. I thought back to when he had got that book for me in the library and how he would occasionally help me in class now and again. Okay, he wasn't the happiest of people, but he wasn't evil like Lexi was now suggesting. "That's a bit of a nasty thing to say is it not? I mean what exactly has he done to deserve that label?" I crossed my arms

She let out a sigh before she answered, "Well he has been hanging around a lot of sinister people recently and some of them spells he has made up are completely barbaric Olivia! I mean remember-"

"You mean them spells that James and Sirius stole and use on a daily basis? Especially on him?" I interrupted her as I glanced down the table to where three of the four Marauder's sat, laughing with not a care in the world apart from Quidditch and what to pull as their next prank. "You think Sirius is any different the way he treats people do you?"

She stared sheepishly into her cereal bowl before setting her eyes on me. "You know Sirius is only joking when he does them things, he never means to actually hurt people. You more than anyone should know that Olivia with how close you are to him" I avoided her gaze as she said that, although she knew I was totally hung up on Severus, the topic of Sirius and I was still sometimes sore to her. Even if I would much rather poke my eyes out with spoons that touch him inappropriately nowadays, well, not entirely but I think you get the gist. Lexi cleared her throat before continuing, a small smile straining to break through on her features, "Anyway, it doesn't matter either way as whatever I say is not gonna make any difference as we all know no-one can ever change your mind once its set don't we?"

I decided to drop the topic as well, not really wanting to put a damper over the rest of the day. "Well we all know how much you love my stubborn ways so don't complain" I smiled kindly back at her as she sipped on a glass of pineapple juice, her eyes shining brightly back at mine as though a weight had been lifted off them somewhat. I knew this was hard for her, I mean what Gryffindor in their right mind wouldn't be angry at me defending a Slytherin all the time. And it had to be Severus of all people, who knew how much house points that boy had costs us. I may not like to loose etc, but to me it wasn't who had ratted the Marauders' in that was to blame, but them themselves for getting caught in the first place._ What kind of pranksters were they if they were always getting caught by a delectable looking Slytherin?_ I wish he would catch me stalking the dark hallways at night time that was for sure. _Hmm, I wonder how much stone walls echo?_

"Daydreaming as usual, I can see she is ready to face another day then" a darkly seductive voice spoke next to me as a body squeezed in beside me, separating me from Lexi.

"Eh! Stop pushing in will you!" I snapped to the right of me only to see Sirius Black nestled up against me, "And get off me will you! Maybe you should lay off the treats big boy as they are starting to show"

He frowned slightly as he lifted up his grey school sweater and white shirt, revealing a very delectable wedge I must say, and tried in vain to pinch a roll of non-existent fat. "Hmm, I think you are right. Will just have to do more exercise to even things out" he turned to Lexi who was pressed up against his other side and ogling him no doubt as her eyes were now popping out there sockets and lingering on the waistband of his still exposed midriff. Thank Merlin it was late into breakfast and most people had left or else there would be a fainting epidemic on our hands by now, "What do you think Lexi? Fancy helping me out with a little night time exercising?" I almost gagged when I noticed him raise his eye brows at her suggestively. _Oh please! What sort of innuendo was that?_

"I...uhm...well..." Lexi mumbled as her cheeks burned rouge, Sirius' smile getting wider the more colour that flushed her delicate features.

"Yeah Lexi, I am sure you are just the perfect person to help work on those abs of his. Maybe get your head round a few other muscles as well?" I casually said as I gazed around myself pretending I hadn't made an innuendo of my own. Pinapple juice splattered the table in front of us causing several heads to turn in our direction, but when they noticed it was us and Sirius, they turned away again rather quickly to resume their own, most likely more entertaining topics of conversation.

"You okay" Sirius' concerned tones mumbled out as he performed a cleaning spell which mopped up all of the pinapple juice.

Lexi straightened herself up before turning and dazzling him with one of her own seductive smiles, "How about we meet up later this week then and you can, show me your _techniques_" she slyly mumbled out before shooting him another dazzling smile and standing up from the table. "Oh Olivia, we really must get going or else we will be late and it's not nice keeping boys waiting"

I turned to Sirius and noticed he was sitting staring at Lexi, who's hands were on her hips as she flipped her Farrah Fawcett styled bangs out her eyes, his jaw unhinged and lying open. His famous 'catching flies' expression as I liked to call it. I smiled triumphantly at Lexi's ability to shut him up. _Can't wait to use this to my advantage_, I evilly smirked before I too stood up from the Gryffindor table and made my way over to Lexi. "Well we better be going, speak to you later _Mr. Serious_!" I winked before walking away, Lexi waving seductively back at him as she too turned on her heel and sashayed away from him. "Oh and by the way, you're drooling down your shirt!" I called back to him loudly as several students began turning to see who I was talking about, "Next time wear a bib!"

"Olivia!" Lexi laughed as she hissed at me to shut up. As much as she liked to tease the poor boy, she had her limits. Merlin forbid me having a little fun over them crushing on each other and not realising it. _Jeez!_

"You're one to speak suggesting to him we were going somewhere important and meeting guys, we are only going to the bloody library for Merlin's sake! Not like that's some big secret" I hissed back as we exited the great hall and turned to make our way up to the Library on the fourth floor.

Lexi turned and rolled her eyes at me. "Mystery Olivia. Boys love a bit of mystery! Now by letting Sirius think I was meeting someone important, maybe even possibly a potential boyfriend he will be even more keen on me. Did you noticed the way he stared after us?" she sighed dreamily, "It worked a charm!"

"If you say so Lexi" I absent mindedly agreed as we continued marching up the stairs, a smirked graced my face as I turned to her, "Did you see how much he was drooling over you though? Think you are well in there"

Lexi sighed heavily again as her eyes glossed over, her lips mumbling something inaudible as we reached the second floor._ And people go on about me day dreaming! She is going to fall down the stairs if she keeps this up_, I thought as I linked arms with her to help steady her the rest of the way. My mind began drifting to what she had said about being mysterious;_ wonder if that will come in handy later on..._

* * *

"Why do I need to go to detention Lexi? Why can't I just get out of bed early like normal people eh? Why have I got to make things so difficult for myself?" I huffed as walked down the third floor staircase, Lexi hot on my heels. She had insisted on walking me right down to the dungeons. She claimed it was to keep me safe from trigger happy Slytherin's like Avery and Mulciber, but I knew her better than that. She just wanted to be nosey and laugh at how awkward me and Severus where going to be around each other after my escapade in the _Great Hall_ the other day. Lets just say that as much as I loved to talk, I wouldn't be doing much of it tonight as I doubt I would be able to even look him in the eye never mind start a conversation.

"Would you stop torturing yourself! Its not the first detention you have ever had and it certainly won't be your last" I knew that smirk on her face. It was her classic, 'Olivia you are such a drama queen' look. I felt my shoulders slouch as I resigned myself to that fate. She was right, it wasn't as if it was my first detention, so why was I so worried? _Oh right, Severus. As if I could forget that little factor_. I sighed heavily as I trudged down yet another flight of stairs._ Just how many sets of stairs does this castle need?_ It was like doing an intense workout everyday trying to get to classes. I could already feel the love handles I had piled on practically burning away. _To hell with treadmills if this was the results Hogwarts could offer!_

"Yeah but its the first I have ever had with Severus, and to add to that he wouldn't even be in detention tonight if it weren't for me in the first place. He probably hates me!"

"Are you seriously still beating yourself up about that? Like really?" she scoffed at me as we descended the stairs leading to the ground floor. "The guy deserves a detention after some of the things he's done. Olivia, he's not a nice guy"

I paused as her words sunk in, grabbing her arm to slow her down so we were face to face. "Please don't start with this again Lexi, I know you don't like him but I'm seriously not arguing with you over how I do" I held her gaze as I said the last part, hoping that the serious tone I was using would be enough to tell her not to push it. The whole reason I was late that day for Potions was because of Lexi. If I had not spent half of lunch arguing with her over Severus that day, I wouldn't of been late to Potions and no-one would have to go to detention tonight. You see as supporting as Lexi was about me being obsessed with the Slytherin, she was closer to Lily than me and her own blossoming '_friendship_' with a certain Mr. Black was seriously clouding her conscious when it came to lying to them both about my closeness to Severus. Apparently she didn't like to lie to people, not even for her best friend it seemed. It's not like I totally blamed her, everyone seemed to hate Severus bar me. It was actually becoming quite a drag lying to everyone to be honest. I hated lying to my friends, almost as much as Lexi did, but I just couldn't stop talking to him. It was like I couldn't control my actions around him and couldn't help putting myself out there.

She avoided my gaze for a moment as she shuffled around on the spot, her black patent shoes scuffing against the stone floor. "I'm sorry for getting at you again Olli, it's just I don't like how your putting his feelings before everyone else's. He has done some things that even you can't deny are downright horrid! Plus, he has been hanging about with Avery and the ever charming Mulciber, and we all know what side they are on don't we?" I nodded solemnly as I took in her truthful statement. It was true that he was getting friendlier with the wrong sorts lately, and with the recent events occurring outside in the wizarding world getting bleaker by the minute, it was only a matter of time before we all had to pick what side we were on and the small sensible part of me was telling me it would somehow be the opposite side to what he would choose. She gave me a weak smile as she began walking towards the entrance to the dungeons. "I don't mean to upset you, but you know yourself it's true" she placed a comforting hand on my arm as she gave it a squeeze. "Lets just not talk about it any more though, there's months before any of those decisions need to be made and like you said before, if Lily was friends with him since Merlin knows when, he can't be that bad right?"

I smiled weakly in return as I mumbled, "right" back at her. I was suddenly feeling much more worried about spending so much time with Severus tonight now after Lexi's horrid reality check. _What the hell am I doing_? I thought as I waved goodbye to her and heading into the dark and cold walkway that lead to the underground classrooms of the castle. _Such a perfect setting to feel creeped out in, wonderful._

* * *

"Just one more hour to go now and you will be free" Slughorn called from his place behind his large desk at the far side of the room to where Severus and I were currently marking first and second year homework assignments. I was surprised he could even see us with all the photographs and mementos that cluttered his desk. Never one to flash his famous friends in front of people was Slughorn. _Yeah right! _We were supposed to be sorting out the store cupboard, but apparently Slughorn had underestimated the space in the tight cupboard and refused to have both of us squeezed in there, rubbing up against each other and spilling potions. I dare say I was rather disappointed at having to mark essays rather than rubbing up against the tall dark and appealing Severus Snape.

I gazed at my companion who was sitting two desks away from me and had been since we had arrived an hour ago. The moment I had approached the dungeons and spotted him, I offered the best smile I could muster with Lexi's words still hanging over me like a black ash cloud, but nothing was returned. To say I was disappointed would be severely underestimating it. I was gutted. I thought we had made so much progress recently, minus my underwear incident, and now he wouldn't even sit next to me never mind look at me! It was a total disaster. And to make things worse, I couldn't even muster up enough balls to even try and squeeze a conversation out of him like I usually do. I just couldn't get the thought that maybe deep down inside of him something sinister lurked and it was actually kinda frightening. _Damn Lexi for actually making me use my brain and think!_

"Oh dear!" Slughorn called out in the echoing classroom before he jumped to his feet and began making his way to the door, "I'm sorry but I will need to leave you on your own for the last hour" he shot me a furrowed eyebrow glance before smiling slightly at Severus, "I trust you will be able to handle yourselves until I come back?" I nodded reluctantly as I rolled my eyes at his retreating back as he left, popping his head back in, no less than a moment after, "Oh, if I am not back in time just excuse yourselves" Then he was gone again. My quill clambering to the table the moment I was sure he wouldn't return any time soon.

"And what do you think you are doing?"

I snapped my head to inspect Severus' accusing one and rolled my eyes at his reluctance to slack off. And to think Lexi was suggesting he would be inclined to become sinister and dangerous after school when he wouldn't even slack off in a detention. _Maybe there was hope after all..._ "I am finishing up" I replied bluntly as I tried to avoid catching his gaze. I couldn't bare looking at him after knowing he had seen me in my knickers, my favourite pink lacy pair, yes that would have been more than fine. But my enlarged flower printed ones? Hell no! Embarrassing didn't even began to scratch the surface of how mortifying that had made me feel.

I heard him huff slightly as he rubbed his temples, no doubt in annoyance at me. "But our detention does not finish until nine White, so I suggest you re-ink your quill and continue marking your remaining essays"

"Stick in the mud" I mumbled under my breath as I pushed myself away from the desk and stood up, planning to take a nosey around until Slughorn came back. _Ooh, is that strawberry witches hats? I love them!_

"Olivia!" he hissed behind me as the noise of wood scudding off stone met my ears followed by loud footsteps. A Tall thin shadow lingered over me as I began scooting around on Slughorn's desk. "What do you think you are doing now?" he glared me down as I snatched a few sweets from the box that was open, and three quarters empty I might add, and lying on the mahogany table.

"I'm...eating" I just about managed out between chews. _God these things are delish_! _Note to self, buy three boxes of these the next time I am in Honeydukes and bathe in them! _Unfortunately my answer did little to amuse my dark and brooding companion who slammed the box of chocolates shut and shot me a rather nasty death glare which I just shrugged off as I continued eating.

"If Slughorn catches you, you are on your own!" He snarled out at me before retreating back to his desk and resuming his essay marking. His quill whipping off the parchments at an unnecessary speed and force. "It's bad enough being here with you as it is..." He hissed out before trailing off and looking somewhat sheepish for a moment before huffing again, his quill being the only noise present in the room once more.

I stopped stuffing my face at that. _What exactly is that supposed to mean!_ _I'm not an embarrassment in the slightest and nor am I a horrid person to be around. Am I?_ I wiped my chocolate covered face on one of Slughorn's abandoned robes that had been draped over the back of his chair, before trudging over to the free desk beside Severus'. His eyes never leaving his table as I sat down beside him, my breathing hitching in my throat when I noticed just how annoyed he really did look. "What do you mean by that eh? Better not be what I think it is?"

He sighed heavily as he pinched his nose with his forefinger and thumb, a new trait of his I had never witnessed before. Must add this to my list of '_traits of Severus Snape that I find utterly sexy_' I mentally noted as I tried my best not to drool all over the table. "I heard you_ talking_ with that _friend_ of yours earlier" I suddenly felt a need to busy myself therefore finding myself conjuring a glass of Bodacious Berry Hawaiian Punch, a favourite of mine. I watched him over the rim of my glass as I took a long gulp. His face was hard and full of concentration as his hands idly fiddled with his wand bellow the desk, his essay grading long forgotten now. _So much for being a stick in the mud_, I thought as I continued to gaze at him while trying hard to think of something to say. I was sick of arguing over why I wanted to talk to him with Lexi, and now he had a problem with Lexi talking to me now it seems. _Could this possibly get any better? Pfft!_

"And what exactly did you hear us say..." I asked, trying my best to come off nonchalant when I was actually ready to burst inside. If he heard me defend him, I swear I am going to shave Lexi's hair off in her sleep. We all know how touchy he is being defended by a girl, take the whole Lily name calling accident for example, then there's how we both have detention tonight and not just me. He clearly has a problem with taking advice off of people. Sounds familiar for some reason. _Hmm..._

He straightened up in his seat before replying. "Apparently your _friend_ is under the impression that I am a bad influence on you and decided she should warn you about me" he scoffed out. Very much like a small stubborn child I might add. _Typical men. Sulks, the lot of them!_

"Well she is a Gryffindor and we all know how your reputation goes with them don't we?" I lightly said as his face turned even sourer causing me to rush out my next statement. "But I don't care about any of that as I know them things don't matter, it's what's inside that counts" _Merlin I sound like a bad movie._

His black tunnels seemed utterly focused on me as his expression softened ever so slightly, again I most likely wouldn't notice these small facial changes if I didn't literally stalk him. "And why do these things not matter to you?" It was my turn to stare at him now as he continued, "I mean your a Gryffindor like your blonde _friend, _and then there is also the matter of being friends with_ Potter_ and _Black_ and the rest of them nitwits" He paused for a second as his voice became lower, quiet and delicate almost which was very unusual for him, "Then there's what I said to Lily..."

I found myself moving inexplicably closer to him, wanting to comfort him somewhat as I spoke my answer without thinking it through first, as usual. "Well none of them things matter to me as you have always been nice enough to me, well tolerable anyway, and that whole Lily business was just a big misunderstanding in my eyes. You did try and apologise for a whole year so it's pretty clear you regret saying it. Plus, I don't really care what any of them think anyway, especially Sirius and James. I've seen them do some pretty nasty stuff, mostly to you for that matter," I noticed he flinched ever so slightly at them words, or was it because I was now basically sitting on his lap? Hmm, tough one to call. _Does he look even more handsome when vulnerable? I think he does,_ I thought as I scooter even closer still. Severus staying still and not moving, but not flinching any more which had to be a good sign. Didn't it? "And whatever you have done that is bad can't be worse than half the stuff they do on an everyday basis. Even if you are friends with some less than lovely people" I involuntarily shivered at the thought of creepy Mulciber with his gargoyle like appearance. _Eww! _I shook my head clear of that ogre and focussed again on the form sitting right next to me, his shoulder rubbing up against mine as I managed to catch his eyes for a moment before he looked away, his gaze burning a hole into the wooden desk once again"Either way, you can't be all that bad can you? I mean you do have some good points", I made the mistake of checking him over; his shining hair (greasy or not it was sexy how it hung at the sides of his face, framing it almost), his milky complexion which looked like he had not seen the sun for years, something I wouldn't have a problem with, and finally his tall lean body which was now less than an inch from mines, "very good points actually...very, very good...points..." I trailed off, my mind fogging with things they probably shouldn't.

I noticed I was only a mere inch or two from him now and that our sides were more than just touching, they were pressed up against each other causing a friction. A very nice and warm friction I might add. I chanced a brave look up at him from my level of a good foot or so below him and noticed he was also staring down at me, his eyes searching my features with a very similar expression. An expression I wouldn't be able to place even if I wanted to, which I so very very did. _Was he sweating?_ I thought as I noticed a slight dew on his forehead. I was, that was for sure! Most likely something to do with the thoughts that were running through my mind at the moment though. _Boxers or briefs I wonder..._

"I...ehm well don't see-see how you..." he began, his mouth moving very oddly as his eyes continued to hold mine. I could literally feel my body heating up and I was faintly aware of my left arm reaching up towards him. To do what? I didn't have a clue. But I knew I didn't have any control over it any more as it got closer to his face. _Was I actually going to touch him? Merlin, I'm going to caress his face! Man how he is gonna hex me if I do,_ I thought nervously as my hand inched closer and closer towards his cheeks. His eyes never leaving mine as it did so. I was completely brain dead at the moment and have the smallest of suspicions that I was drooling also. _Oh Merlin please let that not be true!_

"Severus I have something to tell you," I began as I placed my hand on his cheek, his skin cool and enchanting to touch. A shiver ran up my spine as I noticed how he didn't flinch away from me. _This is going so well! I didn't even need to act all mysterious and flirty for this to happen, wait until Lexi hears about that! _My mind rushed with more bizarre thoughts as I felt my head move up towards his, my lips itching to feel his upon my own._ I wonder if they are chapped?_ I thought as my mind continued to buzz. Severus's hand had now placed itself on top on mines which was now currently stroking his cheek and slowly moving towards his neck to pull him down to my level. I felt my breathing come out hitched as I tried to speak again, "Severus, I really really li-"

"Cosying up instead of marking essays I see? Can't leave you two alone for ten minutes can I?" Slughorn's cheery but scolding tones cut me off as Severus all but jumped to the other side of the universe away from me, leaving me feeling cold and embarrassed. _Was I actually just going to admit my feelings to him and kiss him?_ I shook my head when I realised I really was. Thank Merlin Slughorn walked in when he did or who knows what else I would of done. _Jump him?_ Yup, I am sorry to say that I probably would have if I wasn't interrupted. I mean it's not often I find myself so close to him, alone and with him speechless and fumbling for words is it? A girls gotta take advantage of these sorts of situations! I tried my best to calm my beating heart and sweaty palms as Slughorn continued on a much more sobering tone, "Right well enough of that and back to work. This is a Detention after all! Twenty points from each of your houses" He shook his head as he closed the distance from the classroom door to his desk, mumbling something under his breath that sounded very much like 'never in all my years'.

I smiled coyly over at Severus as I made my way back to my own desk which was still piled high with essays, and noticed that he was blushing slightly and looking rather agitated and flustered. _Did I really have that effect on him? _He certainly had that effect on my that was sure. I was practically pulsing from excitement by just looking at him never mind what I would of felt if we had actually kissed_. _My smile got wider, but soon got caught short the moment I caught his eye. He frowned at me and turned his head swiftly to his own smaller stack of essays, his composure steady and composed again as he continued to work, completely ignoring my presence like the beginning of the night. I didn't understand his sudden change in demeanour after he had seemed so willing to let me touch and possibly kiss him just minutes ago. _Was I that repulsive to him?_ I suddenly felt extremely hurt and upset over him scowling at me, something that I had never felt before no matter how much of a nasty look or comment he had dished out to me in the past. This was entirely different and personal. I frowned back at him, causing him to shift slightly in his chair as he no doubt caught me staring at him from the corner of his eye. His frown deepening even more as he continued to work. _Well this is just wonderful! Looks like I have frightened him off now_. I pouted my lip as I thought of ways for me to make this better. _Think Olivia think now! _Although he had hurt my feelings, I didn't want to loose him as a friend. I wasn't going to give up on all the progress I had made with him that easily, his now intense hatred towards me or not. I suddenly became aware of eyes on me and noticed Severus had just been glancing at me, his eyes sad and angry. _Maybe he doesn't hate me as much as I thought?_ I smiled weakly to myself as I brought my gaze back to my desk.

"Who's been eating my chocolates? I could of sworn I had more than that?" Slughorn's confused voice called to no-one in particular as I sniggered behind my hand. _His waist line will thank me one day, unlike mine_ I thought, as I inked my quill and got back to work wondering when this detention was ever going to end.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Babies

How they managed to do at least three detentions a week and still be top of all their classes was totally beyond me. _They must possess supernatural abilities_, I thought as I glared at the four Marauder's at lunch. I had only managed to get myself one detention this week, yeah it was only Tuesday and the likelihood of me being on my best behaviour the rest of the week was slim, but I was struggling with my homework load already. I had an essay for Charms that I had decided to just totally abandon, a Potions essay that I had miraculously somehow managed to ramble three inches over the recommended length and a Transfiguration essay that I had only done since McGonagall was my head of house and I actually liked making her semi-proud of me, on occasion. The rest I had decided to stay up late last night to do, only managing to scribble semi-readable sentences out and implausible ideas about how the Mandrake plant could be more easily handled. I had a feeling that scolding them for a good half an hour before slapping them senseless would not be a good enough plan to Professor Sprout. Not that I cared much, I had already decided I had wanted to become a Healer and knew I could get into that career path even with an Exceeds Expectations in Herbology. _Man I really need to pick up my work load though, just in case..._ The last thing I needed was to be an unemployed bum at the end of the school year. Something my parents would not approve of in the slightest!

"Did you see poor Filch's face when he opened his office door?" Sirius asked our group of friends for what seemed to be the hundredth time today at lunch. "Totally priceless it was!"

"I agree!" James laughed out before checking that Lily wasn't too disappointed at their recent prank, noting her slightly smiling face he continued, a larger smile on his face than that of a moment ago, "If it wasn't for your idea to levitate that itching powder though mate, I doubt the whole thing would of worked the way it had"

The red head next to him shook her head as she smiled under her mop of thick hair. "You lot are unbelievable" she murmured.

"I know!" I declared as I shuffled about the many parchments in my hand, my face slightly hot and flustered as I tried desperately to stuff them into my school bag. While the others where eating I had been trying to mend my Herbology essay, but had failed abysmally and only seemed to get it covered in breadcrumbs, "How the hell do you find time to do everything? I'm struggling as it is and this week has barely started!"

"Calm down, it's easy" Sirius casually said as Remus rolled his eyes at him, clearly disagreeing but keeping his mouth shut all the same. "It's all about managing your time love, something you have never been very good at"

I scowled at his smirking face as Lexi put a hand on my arm, whispering in my ear that "it's not worth it" before scowling at Sirius herself. Sure she had the hots for him, but as my best friend she could tell I was genuinely really feeling stressed out my nut and knew now was not the best time to be witty and sarcastic around me. I was extremely short tempered and moody when I was stressed, today being no exception.

"Yeah maybe you wouldn't have to study as much if you were smarter" Peter laughed, rather manically too I thought, as he nodded to Sirius for approval on his non-witty comment. Sirius just blatantly ignored him as he turned and said something into James' ear, casing James to smirk over at the Slytherin table across from us. Thus leaving me to shoot the biggest death glare I could muster at the fat boy across the table from me. _How dare he poke fun at me! Him of all people to!_

"Well maybe if you lifted your face out your plate now and again and payed attention, you would see that I am a model student in Potions and Defence Against The Dark Arts" I scoffed as he stopped stuffing his face full of mashed potatoes and looked sheepishly towards Remus for help, who was unfortunately sitting next to him. Remus only shook his head at him however, before trying to offer me a small calming smile. One I firmly ignored as my angry gaze refused to leave Peter's slinking form. "What kind of grades do you get anyway? You study more than me and still can only scrape up Acceptable in most of your classes, if even that! Troll is what you should get, suits you better"

Peter was now shrinking under the table as I continued to fume at him. Okay, he had mostly just caught me at a bad moment as his silly comments hardly ever got a bat of my eyelids never mind a full blown rage rant. _Calm breaths Olivia, it's not his fault that he is annoying_. Lexi's hand tightened round my arm as I noticed Lily lean over the table and whisper something to Peter which caused him to scurry off and out the Great Hall. Lily had a soft spot for Peter ever since she had met him through James. It was by no means fuelled by anything other than pity, but it had managed to withstand the whole seven years of Hogwarts. She helped him frequently with homework and would always try her best to stand up for him, especially when he was on the receiving end of the rest of the Marauder's jokes. They would occasionally like to poke fun at the small boy. Something I actually found rather amusing. Now now, I am not a bad person for thinking that! _Am I...?_

Lily poked her head round James' as she leaned over the table, her face irritable looking, "You didn't need to take your stress out on poor Peter, Olivia! It might be N.E.W.T year and all, but everyone is just as stressed as you are! What has he ever done to you?"

I rolled my eyes at that statement as I tried to control my anger. Today was just not my day for being calm it seemed. "well let me see", I said as I began listing things off on my fingers, "he just insulted me there, burned my vision by his over weight presence, hits on me occasionally and seems genuinely shocked when I say no to his creepy advances and scurries about my feet like a little lost puppy every time I am in the vicinity of either Sirius or James. The boy has a rather creepy man crush on them for heaven sakes! Not normal at all"

This seemed to attract Sirius' attention next me, "who has a man crush on me and James?" he said excitedly as he gazed down the Gryffindor table, nudging James' shoulder next to him, "You hear that Prongsie, were attracting the boys now as well! The whole school will be after us soon, teachers and all!"

"It was only a matter of time mate. No one can resist our charm for long" James laughed loudly next to Sirius before Lily pushed his shoulder and stood up from the table.

"You are so childish sometimes Olivia" she hissed out as she walked passed me, "Coming James? We should go make sure Peter is okay" she shot back as she continued her strut down the length of the hall.

James seemed to stop laughing for a moment as he stared between Sirius and Remus then Lily. Sirius clearly rolling his eyes as he nodded at him to just go. "Will catch up with you lot later" he mumbled as he got up from the table also and went to follow after Lily, stopping behind me for a split second to murmur an apology in her behalf.

"Whipped like cream so he is" Sirius boldly stated before continuing with his lunch like nothing had happened. Remus who was still sitting across from us was furiously shaking his head again as a small smirk crossed his lips.

"Well I think it is nice that he is really trying with Lily" Lexi said as she finally took her hand off my arm, a large red hand print now burnt onto my pale skin. _Wonderful! _I thought as I rubbed my arm trying to get the red to blend in with the rest of my milky white skin. My tan from summer had faded way too quickly for my liking. Sirius looked at her like she was mad for a moment before she continued, "Well he has been trying to get her attention for six years, he obviously is doing everything not to loose it now that he has finally got a hold of her. I think it is cute"

Sirius seemed to find this amusing. I thought it was just absurd! I mean why should he need to follow everything she does just to keep her happy? She would be shallow and immature if she dumped him over silly things like that. Lily was many things, like bossy for example, but shallow? Nup. She would befriend a three headed dog if one existed! Looks and apperances meant little to her, as did reputation. She was just that overly friendly. Don't get me wrong, we have our moments of disliking each other, but I didn't want to sit and bitch about her. Something I knew I would end up doing if I continued to sit through this conversation in the mood I was currently in.

"Whatever" I mumbled as I stood up to leave, Sirius sliding over into my seat next to Lexi the moment I did so. Even from behind I could tell she was grinning like a maniac. "I need to get to Defence Against the Dark Arts early so see you all later I suppose" I rushed away, stopping for a moment to call back to them as a small feeling of guilt washed over me, "sorry for being such a crabby bitch by the way!"

I had just about reached the large mahogany doors leading to the Entrance Hall when I heard Sirius' mirth filled voice call back, "It's fine as we are all used to it by now. You're always a crabby bitch!"

_Haha,_ I thought as I scowled my way through the doors and began heading to the castle doors which lead outside to the Green Houses. _Today was definitely not my day for smiling._

* * *

"Right, if you can all just put your books away and get your wands out. I have a little something special for you all" the tall gangly man who went by the name of Professor Uley said. He was usually all about books and learning non-verbal spells so him actually letting us do something hands on was actually quite spectacular. So as you can imagine, there was quite a buzz in the classroom after he had announced that.

"What is it sir!"

"Is it something dangerous?"

"Will it be easily handled by us?"

"Where have you got it hidden?"

"This is great!" Vermouth Green of Ravenclaw finally shouted as we all leaned forward in our seats to try and catch a glimpse of what Uley was pulling out from under his desk.

"Bet its something terribly boring" a familiar dark voice murmured to my right as I shifted in seat next to Lexi to see Severus hiding in the back of the class, his arms crossed over his chest as he gazed absent mindedly out of the window next to him. He didn't seem to have a partner, which was strange considering everyone had to sit in two's for these sorts of classes. _Maybe his partner is sick_, I thought as I turned to look at my own partner, Lexi. She was currently glaring at the grumpy Slytherin also, only with a face full of disgust and not longing like my own.

"What crawled up his arse?" Lexi whispered to me, causing me to shrug my shoulders.

"Beats me as he is usually quite moody" I whispered back as I shot one last glance at Severus, my lips turning up ever so slightly at the sides as I continued, "Maybe he is just having a bad day like myself"

Lexi scoffed rather loudly, "all his days are bay days"

I firmly decided this wasn't true as he wasn't that grumpy, I mean he was sarcastic but so was I and I'm not down in the dumps all the time. _He's bored_, I thought. He most likely already knew what it was that Uley was going to show us and simply just found this class dull. _I wouldn't put it past him as he knows everything about this class already_, I thought before turning to look at the front of the class again just in time to see Uley produce a large chest onto the empty space on the floor not far from his desk.

A collected gasp of "Ooooh!" rippled throughout the classroom as many of my fellow students actually took to standing on their tiptoes to see over each other. _This is brilliant,_ I thought as Uley turned to us again, smiling at how interested we all seemed to be. _Well most of us anyway,_ I thought as I remembered Severus' bored form not far behind me. I turned to smile at him and try and encourage him to join in. He simply offered me a nod and a grimace before I turned my attention back to the trunk again. _I don't blame him,_ I thought as I too stood up to try and see the front better only I happened to have six foot Sirius in front of me blocking my view, I was just over five foot so like a midget compared to him basically. Not the best of views I must say, although I had a sneaky suspicion that the majority of the females in Hogwart's would firmly disagree. Apparently people liked to ogle at Sirius' hair. _Why?_ I didn't know nor care. Personally I would rather ogle at Severus' hair. Yes his was sometimes greasy, but framed his face better than Sirius' and had that look about it that clearly stated he didn't do a thing to it. Not even brush it I suspected. Sirius on the other hand spent about an hour on his hair alone in the mornings to give it that 'I've just woke up' look. _Ridiculous._

"Well I am glad I have your attention class, certainly didn't think you would be this excited!" Professor Uley rambled on. I pushed Sirius off to the side so I could see.

"Move, can't see pass your massive head" I muttered at he turned round to glance at who was touching his precious locks.

"If you wanted to caress my hair all you had to do was ask" He smiled seductively at me as he moved to his left and put his arms out in front of him in a sweeping motion as he gestured to the available space I now had to see through. "That better my Ladyship?"

"Pfft!" I scoffed rather loudly, thankfully the loud chatter of my classmates drowned it out or else I would have had another detention for this week. "I am surprised you can walk with a head as big as yours! Now tell me, how much exactly does your ego weigh? Eleven stone of your thirteen stone frame? More?"

He looked crestfallen for a second before gazing towards Lexi who was trying her best not to pay attention to our current conversation, "I can assure you that I am all muscle love and nothing else" He offered her a wink and turned back round to face the front.

I rolled my eyes dramatically before gazing through the now empty space in front of me. Professor Uley was fiddling with several straps on the trunk, which for the first time since I had seen it, I had noticed it was moving. A lot! Bouncing about as though it contained several Bludgers or something just as nasty. _Suddenly I am not liking this as much any more..._

"Class could you please stand at the back of the room and form an orderly queue while I move the desks" he calmly said before being drowned out by the sound of scudding chairs, stomping feet and excited squeals as everyone all but pushed their way to the back of the class. Several fighting over who was going to be first in the queue, "I said orderly fashion people! Keep acting like this and I shall be resorted to calling you out one by one by your surnames like third years!" Everyone immediately calmed down, the people at the front silently pushing each other out the way behind Uley's back now much more discreetly than before. _As if shouting at us would actually work! _

The desks flew back to the sides a moment later and the roughly formed queue moved into the now free space at the centre of the room. I had hung around the back not exactly thrilled about facing whatever was in the trunk after seeing the way it was bashing about inside it. I noticed I had somehow lost Lexi in the crowd before spotting her moments later up the very front of the queue with James, Sirius and Lily. Where Remus was I didn't know. I glanced around for his familiar face and instead found Severus'. He too was hanging at the back, his face bored and stoic as he leaned against the wall in the corner. Peter hadn't shown up for this class which made me feel slightly guilty for snapping at him at lunch earlier.

"I know you cannot take the anticipation any more so I shall tell you what is in the trunk" Uley all but beamed at the front of the queue. He was obviously having a blast with everyone actually paying attention to what he was saying for once. Usually we were all bored out our nuts until a dueling chapter in our books or something came up when the chance to use our wands was considerably higher. "It's a Boggart!"

Several Slytherin's groaned while the majority of the rest of us still held interest, although considerably less than a moment ago. I noticed Severus roll his eyes at the young Professor's grand statement causing me to approach him.

"What's a Boggart?" I asked as I neared his side. Several people around us gave us weird looks before continuing their own conversations again. Gryffindor's and Slytherin's interacting with each other on anything other than a nasty basis was quite unheard of.

He looked at me like I was missing my brain. "It is something that you should already know about, that's what it is"

"What kind of an answer Is that?" I huffed, my mood quickly turning sour like it was earlier this morning. I had managed to brighten up considerably after lunch as I had managed to hand in both my Herbology and Transfiguration essays before coming here. I knew if I handed them in then I wouldn't be able to hang about long enough to see my Professor's reactions to my substandard work as I had the excuse of being late for class. A little trick I found myself using quite frequently.

Severus looked at me with with an expression I couldn't quite place before striding further up into the queue, people parting like he was royalty so he could enter. People seem to part for him all the time, unlike me who just manages to get trampled on in a group any larger than five. _How unfair!_ I internally huffed. Although in hindsight, it wasn't exactly like they parted out of niceness for him. Quite the opposite sadly. _Shame._

"I know it may not be a Vampire or even some Red Caps, but I found this one in my wardrobe the other day and I am sure you will find it rather difficult to deal with" I squinted down the line as I tried to take in everything that the Professor was saying, "Now a Boggart will represent your biggest fear, something that haunts your most terrifying nightmares. The only way you will be able to fight it is by saying the spell _Riddikulus. _Say it after me,_ Riddikulus" _everyone mumbled out the spell a few times as some went as far as swishing about their wands for practice, nearly taking out the person behind them eye, "Good Good," he congratulated us before beginning to undo the last strap on the now violently shaking chest, "Now I want you to come up one at a time and each take a turn to fight your own personal fears. The Boggart will not be dangerous to you or do anything but cause you fear, which is only able to be fought with laughter. So I want all of you now to take a moment before I open the chest to think of something that will make your biggest fear funny" He gazed seriously down the queue as most people started mumbling to themselves. Me included. _What the hell was my biggest fear? _I thought as I racked through my head for something, anything that might help me. I was scared of many things; spiders, moths, Peter Pettigrew's advances, heights and dates with Remus Lupin. But what I feared the most was something unsure to me. "Right here we go then!" Professor Uley called before pointing to the person at the front of the queue, "You first Mr. Black!"

Sirius stepped forward confidently, turning his wand in his hand a few times just to emphasize just how easy he found this task to be. When he was only a few spaces away from the opening of the trunk Professor Uley nodded at him once before opening the trunk lid and stepping back. Everyone in the queue began peering down to try and get a glimpse of just what Sirius Black's biggest fear was, me being one of the ones who was fighting extra hard not to miss it. In my seven years of knowing Sirius, the last two being one of a few fortunate people who actually knew him personally as a friend, I had never seen him be afraid of anything. Not even a mention of something he feared of a small flinch at a creepy animal or even a shudder while in a dangerous situation. Zilch!

I had just about shoved a few Hufflepuff girls out of my way before a flash of black appeared at the front before Sirius. Several of the closer students began gasping while some of the Slytherin's actually started sniggering. _What the hell is so funny?_ I thought as I strained my sight to see what exactly Sirius' Boggart had turned into. When he was standing staring at what appeared to be himself, only dressed in black and green robes instead of his own Gryffindor ones of red and black, I was shocked to say the least. His expression was also much more sinister and he was muttering something to the actual Sirius which I couldn't hear this far back. Still I noticed that Sirius showed no outward signs of fear, or being scared at all in the slightest as he swished his wand towards the menacing version of himself, which soon was replaced with him wearing nothing but blue boxer shorts with little golden Labrador puppies printed on them.

_What the hell!_ I snickered as most of the class broke out in a mixture of wolf whistles and laughter. _He does have pretty good abs mind._ I found myself thinking before I shook my head to try and focus on more serious thoughts. _I can't believe Sirius' fear is being a Slytherin!_ _Pretty lame_, I thought before reminding myself that I didn't even know what my own biggest fear was, which was even lamer. _Damn!_

"Very, interesting Mr. Black" Uley said as Sirius left the front and began strolling up towards the back where I was standing quite near the end of the queue. "Next!"

It was James' turn now. He too strolled forward just as confidently as Sirius had, only he took the wise choice of leaving the fancy wand work out. I watched fascinated as the barely clothed smirking Sirius Black transformed into what looked like Lily. I slapped the tall Ravenclaws head that kept bobbing in front of my view out the way to get a better look. Ah, it was Lily and what looked like the Slytherin Quidditch Captain kissing each other. _Another strange fear. What the hell runs through their heads!_ I noticed James' fists clench at his sides for a moment, laughter from the other students ringing about the room as he did so, before he flicked his wand and the Slytherin boy was instantly ten times fatter and growing_. _He continued ballooning as he strolled away, Lily gawping after him as he neared Sirius who was laughing his head off while lounging on a nearby desk. _Well I suppose love sick James' biggest fear would logically be Lily not wanting him, but in my head still pretty lame_. _Who's biggest fear is that sappy, seriously?_

The next victim walked up. It was Lily herself this time. The real one that is. She smiled reassuringly over to where James was now sitting next to Sirius, her cheeks slightly flushed as she did so. I didn't even need to fight to see what her biggest fear would be, it was painfully obvious. And when the boy in front of me scoffed something about 'snotty studious Gryffindor's', I knew I had been right. Her fear was failing her N.E.W.T's. Another lame fear I agree, only as grades mean as much to me as believing true love is real, but to intellectual Lilly, it was the worse thing in the world. I felt slightly gutted at missing how she had made her failing funny before I noticed the next person to go was Lexi._ How the hell did they all end up together while I'm stuck back here on my own_, I thought as I crossed my arms in a huff.

Once again I already knew what Lexi's biggest fear was, and wasn't exactly too keen on seeing them myself at the moment. Sure enough, several screams echoed around the room as several large spiders began scuttling about on the floor. I found myself dancing on the spot and rubbing my tingling skin with my arms as my gaze looked at everything but what was crawling around at the front of the class.

"Very common fear Miss. Kingsley. Now if you could only just get down off the boy behind you and get rid off them, I think we would all be much obliged" The slightly shaky tones of the Professor called out as several of the boys around me snickered. Apparently, Uley wasn't too keen on spiders either as he was currently standing on his desk squealing like a girl. A large pop echoed followed by several little tittering noises. "Thank you Miss. Kingsley. Next..." I gazed down at the floor at the front to see that Lexi had turned the spiders into little toy ones with tap dancing shoes.

I noticed Lexi had now joined the rest of my friends who were now all chatting amongst themselves. I frowned a bit as I suddenly felt very left out. Lilly was sitting on one of the abandoned desks that James had occupied a while ago, while he now stood in front of her, their hands interlocked as they chatted. Lexi on the other hand looked as though she was trying to calm Sirius down as he glared dangerously at the front of the class where the boy who arms Lexi had jumped in a moment ago was now facing his worse fear. Which was frogs apparently. Loads and loads of frogs. Her arm was rested on his as she tried to soothe him into not doing anything stupid. _Since when did he start acting jealous over Lexi anyway?_ _Maybe I do have narcolepsy_ I thought, as I seem to constantly miss what is going on.

Seeing the frogs turn into chocolate frogs and how the boys own voice seemed to turn into a more frog like 'ribbit' sound as he passed Sirius, whose wand just so happened to be out at the same moment, I began thinking again of my own biggest fear. _Was it as lame as some of theirs? Nah, surely not! I am in Gryffindor for a reason, I'm not an idiot or severely lacking in bravery so it can't be that bad. Right?_

Every now and then the line would move down as another student had faced their fears. Remus I noticed had now joined the rest of my friends at the abandoned tables, only he still had not faced his demons it seemed. At least I didn't recall him having gone, but I had stopped paying attention a while back now. Actually, I couldn't seem to remember anyone who had been after the Hufflepuff who apparently was afraid of women. Bullying wouldn't begin to cover the situations he would find himself in from now on.

"Excellent class! Most of you have managed to make your fears amusing, especially you Miss. Friar who managed to turn a ghost into a wedding dress. Good luck on your big day this summer! Now who's next? Ah, Mr. Snape"

My thoughts all but disappeared as I snapped my head to the front and saw Severus standing in front of a small toy dragon. _Now this should be interesting_, I thought as a small smile came to my face. _What is big sexy Snape afraid of I wonder?_ Before I could think any more on the subject however, a tall thin woman appeared standing next to a surly looking man who had one of the biggest noses I had ever seen on a human being. Their faces were filled with hate and disgust as they gazed down at Severus. I gazed around the class and noticed that most of them had already taken their turns and were now lounging about several of the desks, their faces glued to the front waiting to see exactly what this sinister man and woman could possibly do that was so terrifying to the Slytherin.

I personally didn't want to know. I was already severely creeped out by them and so was Sirius it seemed, who took this perfect opportunity to open his mouth. "Now I can see where you get your good looks from Snivellus. Must say, quite the family portrait you lot make. Must be expensive having to buy a new camera every year though, would be cheaper just getting surgery"

_Oh my, not good!_ I thought as I debated whether or not to shoot a muffling charm at Sirius at the moment. He always didn't know when to shut up, rather like me only I wasn't as nasty. Especially to Severus who I was usually the complete opposite to.

"I think a nose job first will work wonders, maybe you can find somewhere that does a two for one?" James added before Lily elbowed him in the ribs causing him to yelp in pain. "Right right I'm sorry! Geez!" he yelped out before pulling her towards him and into a cuddle. Something it seemed she wasn't to keen on as she struggled against him before shooting one of her 'I hate you' looks up at him and storming away to go stand next to Remus, who was a few desks away from him and not looking overly happy himself. He usually wasn't one to condone the bullying ways of Sirius and James, but that didn't mean he would actually speak up and defend Severus any time soon either. He just would never join in.

Several other people where now snickering at what stood at the head of the class as others couldn't hide their amusement or disgust and where just plain laughing at Severus or stating how horrid him and his family looked together. _Well that's not exactly nice is it!_

I brought my attention to stare at his family again, who continued glaring down at what seemed like a frozen Severus. His back was to me so I couldn't see his face, but he hadn't moved an inch since, what I assumed where his parents, had appeared. _Was he really that frightened of them? Surely not! He loved the darks arts which was enough to give anyone nightmares, so how bad could his parents be?_ I gazed at the large nosed man to see him cracking his knuckles. _Quite bad it seems._

"Well aren't you going to do something?" Sirius called as Severus continued to stand stalk still, his hands balling into fists at his sides as his right hand clutched onto his wand but refused to move it. _I need to stop this_, I thought as I noticed only a handful of people were between me and Severus. _Right well I guess it's time to find out what my worst fear is._ I swallowed the lump in my throat as I marched past the rest of the queue.

"Now class, calm down! Ten points from Gryffindor each for you two, keep your insults to yourselves from now on please" Professor Uley scolded Sirius and James as I was a few steps from the front of the queue, several students now wondering at what I was doing. "Are you okay Mr. Snape? Would you like some assistance?"

Just as he had uttered them words I appeared before Severus and watched in disbelief as the man's raised hand and the woman's disappointed face turned into four little crying babies. Complete with soiled nappies that stunk out the class and bibs covered with, what I hoped was, milk. _Oh my Merlin!_ I thought as I scurried backwards and into someone tall. I looked up into their dark eyes for help and noticed it was Severus. He still had not moved from his spot and was now staring at me with a fixed glare. A stage four I would say according to my _Severus Snape Glare Chart_. Only one glare was more surly than this one and it was the one he only gave to Sirius and James. I cringed as the little babies started to crawl towards me crying "mama". _This cannot be happening!_

"Miss White it is not your turn yet" Proffessor Uley called over to me, his face filled with shock as he stared between the babies still crying on the floor and myself. "Another five points from Gryffindor" he muttered, "Now I suggest you finish your turn and let someone else go" and with that he was standing next to his desk with the smallest of smiles gracing his face as he continued to stare at the scene before him. _Yeah, laugh at my fear why don't you! Stupid middle aged git. Pfft!_

"Babies Olivia? Really?" Sirius' amused tones drifted over to me as the rest of the class burst out into fits of laughter. "Aww, and they all have little mops of black hair to. Are they mine?"

I grabbed onto Severus' arm behind me as the babies became closer and closer, my heart rate thumping louder as they did so. _They are only little babies Olivia, relax. They are not going to hurt you_, I chanted internally as I tried to slow my breathing. Images of them crawling up my legs and needing changed or comforted struck my mind as I began to whimper. _I so wasn't cut out for any of this!_

I felt my hand being pushed away as the supporting body behind me disappeared and I stumbled backwards slightly, fumbling for my pocketed wand as I did so. I didn't even think to take it out as I marched down to save Severus. Me having one of my idiotic moments as usual it seems.

"And I thought she was pregnant the other morning to, strange how things work out eh?" Lexi mused aloud as I heard Sirius' bark like laughter get louder. _Only friends like them could just stand and laugh at the sidelines while I'm standing scared to death somewhere._

"Who's the unlucky father?" Trust Lily to have to join in also. _Right, I've had enough of this_, I thought as I waved my wand. _I'm not standing here getting laughed at any longer!_

"_Riddikulus!" _I shouted as the four little terrors changed into four little black puppies, who began chasing their tales and play fighting with one another. _I loved dogs so I do. _I beamed at my handy work as I strutted over to join my friends. All of who were smiling at me as I approached.

"Oh, they are most definitely mine!" Sirius' tones hit my ears once again as I shook my head free of his sarcastic comments. _As if I would have children with him!_ "Don't expect any maintenance though love, as I'm skint. What with being blasted off the family tree and all!" He smiled broadly at this information as if it was the best thing in the world to have your own family disown you. Even if they were the Blacks!

"Carrying Sirius' babies eh?" James asked as I sat down between Lily and Lexi, noticing Lexi's slightly upset face at the choice of subject matter. "I declare I must be Godfather!" Lily rolled her eyes at his statement.

"Me too!" Remus called next to Lily as I began shaking my head at them all.

"Trust me, if I ever decide to have any _actual_ little terrors of my own, it will not be with Sirius. Ever! Merlin knows what they will turn out like. Ugly as hell no doubt like him"

"Hey! You know I am gorgeous!" He scoffed as he pouted like a child. Lexi however seemed more upbeat by my insult as she voiced her agreement with me on the matter, which only caused Sirius to pout more.

"Don't forget about the fleas now!" James laughed before Sirius punched his arm telling him to shut up. _Fleas? Why would my children have fleas?_ I laughed nervously in return as Lexi, Lily and I shared a look of total bewilderment.

"Was nice of you to help Snape out like that Olivia" smiled Remus before he was rudely interrupted by Sirius' appalled tones.

"Nice? Nice!" he scoffed as he pushed himself of the desk he was sitting on and came over and stood before me, his finger pointing in my face. "You should of just left him to fumble on his own, idiot was afraid of an apparition of two ugly people"

"I just wanted to get my turn over and done with as I was tired of waiting and he was taking ages" Now, this wasn't entirely a lie. True, I was getting tiresome of watching my friends all have fun while I was still stuck in the queue, but Severus could have taken as long as he wanted for all I cared, as the whole reason I was near the back of the queue in the first place was because I was scared of my own biggest fear. Which disappointedly turned out to be babies. _I mean who's scared of babies? What a ridiculous fear that is!_

Sirius and everyone seemed to debate my answer for a minute before James decided to talk. "I don't blame you, his parents were starting to really give me the creeps also. Think I would have jumped up there myself if he had taken any longer" Lily glared at him from across me and Lexi causing him to add, "you know it's true. They were creepy as hell Lily!"

We all nodded, including Lily who seemed to actually cave on her 'it's my opinion or nothing' attitude for once. "Yes, yes they were" I said as I scanned the room for the boy we were all talking about, only to find him standing in the far corner of the room where his desk should be. He was glaring over in our direction with his wand in his hand as his arms hung still at his sides, as rigid as metal pokers. _Was he embarrassed? Was he angry?_ He seemed angry at me when I had appeared before him and helped him. I forgot how much he hated other people to help him, especially me, a female Gryffindor. One thing was for sure though, if that was his parents they looked terrifying and he looked terrified of them also. Something that was very rare to see from him; fear. It scared me a little to see him scared. I didn't like it. Another thing that had scared me was his dad, and how it appeared as though his fist had been raised to strike just before he had vanished. I let my gaze linger over the glaring Slytherin once more. _Poor soul,_ I thought. _No wonder he never smiles!_ _Well I will just need to fix that now, wont I? _


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Invasion Of The Unwanted Hug

The sun was beating down hot and hard over the grounds of Hogwarts and tanning the small band of older students that where basking in the unusual October glow. I was currently basking near the edge of the Black Lake as it was that time of the week I liked to call '_two for one Wednesday's_' as it was currently midday and we would have a double period free each Wednesday at the same time. _Yes, my naming of things suck but get over it_. Anyway, I should be ecstatic! Elated! Overjoyed! Even just happy to be spending two hours doing absolutely nothing in the sun, but I was not. At all I might add. Firstly, me and the sun are not the best of mates; I burn like a old man's balding head in mere minutes. _Minutes!_ Secondly, Peter was currently sitting next to me staring up at me like a cross eyed pig while trying to get me to play wizards chess with him, while my other side (and escape route) was blocked by a large foreboding looking oak tree that's branches seemed to want to destroy the book I was currently trying to read. Then, last but not least, my mind would not stop thinking about Severus and his scary parental Boggarts, which had been freaking me out since it happened yesterday. There had been a lot of rumours flying about that incident by now, a lot of them being fuelled if not started by the Marauders. Some where actually quite sadly terrifying. For example, this one Slytherin fourth year asked me this morning if it was true that Severus' dad beats him black and blue with a nailed bat! He looked quite excited by the idea of me confirming it to, which creeped me out all the more. _How sick and sadistic where some of these Slytherin's?_ Either way, I could not for the life of me to get my mind to concentrate on anything else. Especially my copy of _Dracula_ that I was currently attempting to read, and failing miserably. _I will kill him in his sleep_! I thought as I shot daggers over at my chubby companion as he blatantly stared at my breasts. _Sickening..._

"Its your go Olivia" Peter's mousy tones hit me, bringing me out of my thoughts and back to the ugly sight before me. He was sitting cross legged with his eager little face gazing over at mine expectantly. To say he disgusted me would be true, but it was only because he was so in your face all the time, and not even in the nice way. In the, 'I'm creepy and probably watch you sleep at night' way. Yeah, creepy!

"Eh..knight to D4?" I mumbled, not really sure if I even had any knights left as I hadn't been paying attention. To my surprise though, my little black horse galloped over to my preferred square and pulverised the trembling white pawn that was situated there. "Aha!" I called, gleeful that my move came across as though I had any clue as to what I was doing, which I didn't in the slightest. I hated this game. I was never one for violence, unless warranted of course.

"Bummer" Peter sighed as he scanned his four remaining board pieces. _Hey, I might not be good at this game, but compared to Peter I was a pro! _Well, he was pretty good at it, just that I had the better chess set is all._ Thank you James Potter!_

I let my gaze fall over to Lilly, Remus and Lexi who where sitting not far in front of us and lounging on a sunny patch of grass as they studied. All three were intently scanning their own individual books as though they where looking for the cure for cancer, while none of them spoke a single word to each other but scribbled something down on a sheet of parchment now and again. _Boring!_ I thought as I yawned loudly, my gaze now looking for Sirius and James. _Ah! Follow the noise and you shall find them._ They were currently sitting huddled together right at the edge of the Black Lake in a deep private discussion. Their attention diverting every now and again to charm balls of water to fly and hit the crotches of any passing Slytherins, their shouting going unnoticed by the two boys who would just continue their conversation again like they hadn't even so much as blinked an eye. _They are so going to hit the wrong person and end up with antlers or something else ridiculous_. They never ever seemed to think of anything like that, of what could happen if they actually crossed the wrong sort of person that could, and would, punch their lights out. _Blunder heads!_

"Your turn again!"Peter chimed unexpectedly once again, my head snapping back to the chess board so quickly I was sure I had snapped it in half. I glared at him for a moment, silently cursing him for scaring me like that. His eyes quickly looked away from mine and to a much more interesting patch of grass before I could even contemplate opening my mouth. _Smart move Sensei!_

My little chess pieces started shouting advice up at me, ordering me what to do all at the same time so I couldn't understand a word of any of it. I took to just pointing to a random piece and nodding my head at whatever it was grumbling on about. Needless to say, I achieved check mate and won the game. _Will need to borrow James' chess pieces more often, they seemed to be really fond of me_. At least I think they seemed happy as they continued to knock Peters already bashed King of the board and into his sulking lap. _Seriously, what is it with boys and losing? It's not like I have actually taken their manhood or anything like that, just dented their ego slightly._ _No big deal!_

He sulked for a few seconds more before smiling up at me like a small child, "You want to play again Olivia?" His beady eyes scanned my face hopefully as his little chubby fingers nursed his crumbling King in his hands.

I stared over at Sirius and James for a moment and noticed them continuing their deep and private discussion before deciding my answer. "No" I simply said as I stood from my seat on the ground and began trudging over towards the lake, my small smile of escaping Peter being short lived as soon as I exited the cover of the tree. The heat bounded down on me in waves and within seconds I could feel my pasty skin starting to sizzle. _Wonderful! _I thought as I quickened my pace over towards the still chattering Sirius and James. I would of joined Lexi and that if studying didn't want to make me rip my eyes out with spoons and go into a boredom induced coma. Shame really, as I hadn't really seen much of her the last few days. I have a suspicion that she and Mr. Sirius Black himself are getting on much more better recently. Lets just say that I think the broom cupboard in the astronomy tower will be boasting a '_do not disturb sign_' soon, if you know what I mean.

"...should teach him a lesson" Sirius finished before James noticed me and nudged him on the shoulder instantly making him shut up and turn round to greet me like he hadn't said anything at all. "Hello love, get tired of beating old Wormtail at chess?"

"So soon to. Its been, what, how long would you say? Forty minutes?" James began sarcastically as he dreamily stared past me and over to the study group, where Lily was currently lying on the grass on her stomach wearing nothing but little denim shorts and a floaty white top, which was practically see through. Most definitely Lexi's as Lily would never own anything as flesh showing as that, she was practically nun material. Well, minus her language that is. _Mouth like a sailor I tell you!_

"Twenty more like it! We have not long been outside!" Sirius cut him off before he turned his attention to me and started laughing, his shirtless chest was glistening with sun cream and sweat in the bright sunlight. "So, how many times did he stare at your breasts then?"

"Mate, I hardly think she has been counting" James tried to reason with him as he lounged next to his rather obnoxious mate, sunning himself on the grass in the shortest shorts I have ever seen a man wear. _What would my cousin call them again?_ _Ah! Bungee smugglers! _Yup, I stared at the rather large bulge around James' crotch, definitely that indeed._ Eww... _I shook my head free of that terrifying image as I planked myself down on the grass next to a grinning Sirius.

"Forty eight" I calmly replied as I shivered at the memory of his beady eyes roaming my body, "And that doesn't include how many times he has stared at my ass since coming over here" I might not of been the most hottest of females here in Hogwarts, but Peter would stare at all the girls, although especially me for some reason. But no-one more than Lily Evans, although he usually does this on the fly as James would surely smack him with a bludger if he ever caught him. To be honest, I think he only likes me as I had been on a date with Remus and been with Sirius, James was taken and definitely not my type, and so I assume he automatically thinks that makes himself next on my list. Oh, and I am the only girl in the history of the world that is remotely near his height. _He is teensy!_ As if I am that easy though, which I am most definitely not! Sirius was a mistake. One of them, '_oh my, the hottest boy in the school has suddenly noticed me, I'm uber flattered_' moments that fizzled out faster than any other of Sirius' relationships, and the date with Remus was definitely a pity date from him, started by Lily's pity on sad lonely me by forcing him to go in the first place. _See, I am so not easy in the slightest!_ Anyways, that's why Peter was creepy. Hopefully really sweet and just misunderstood deep down inside, but creep always to me I am afraid.

"You actually counted? I don't know what's creepier, him staring or you counting!" James said as he shook his head in disbelief, causing Sirius to burst into a fit of laughter, ignoring all the barely clad girls that were trying to get his shirtless attention since Merlin only knows when as he frolicked around on the grass with not a care in the world.

"Yeah, so what? I was bored to tears over there thanks to you two running off to have some smooching time and them" I stuck my thumb behind me indicating the rest of our group who still hadn't looked up from their large array of books, "abandoning me for books! Who studies outside anyway? Its too distracting"

Sirius puffed out his chest in a pompous way, "I know I am love. I'm always a welcomed distraction" his caterpillar type eyebrows danced up and down suggestively as he spoke. _How lovely, he has insect features. Yum...not!_

Suddenly a thought struck me just as James charmed a particularly large ball of water to hit Herald Gill right on his crotch. He was a pure blooded pompous Slytherin six year, who hated everyone who he didn't think was worthy to be on this earth, which just so happened to include us in that category. _Lovely_, I thought as I shook my head from side to side knowing what was now going to happen.

"Who threw that? Who was it!" Gill shouted as his boar like head swung from side to side and attempted to look for the culprit, his eyes falling on me, James and Sirius almost instantly. The latter two who were currently doubled over in laughter at him while I just smiled innocently back at him as he glared.

"Sirius, see before you have to go help James out of whatever fight he has got himself into, "James shook his head beside me as his eyes bulged out his sockets nearly at my clam explanation of the situation, "could you rub some sun scream into my shoulders? I don't want to be lying burning over here while you two go cursing some boys manhood off!"

"It was you wasn't it? You will pay for ruining my best school trousers you blood traitor!" The menacing voice of Gill cut over our conversation again as I noticed a large shadow loom closer and closer towards us. _And here it comes, the repercussions of playing with fire. Or water in this case I __suppose._

"I shall be back in a moment" James smiled at us before he left to no doubt meet the water soaked thug halfway. His wand was out, where he had been keeping it in his current ensemble was beyond me, but there it was, produced from thin air and ready to hex whoever came in contact with him first.

I held the abandoned sun scream bottle out towards Sirius again as I tried to gain his attention away from the now arguing James and Gill and back to me. "So back rub yeah?"

"Only because James doesn't need my help in dealing with him" he causally said before a sly smile crossed his features, "and besides red is just not your colour love"

I rolled onto my front and undid the neck tie that was holding my multi coloured play suit in place, exposing my back completely to the suns full rays. _Merlin is this embarrassing_, I thought as Sirius started squirting a rather lot of lotion on my back making me think through his words more carefully. "What do you mean red is not my colour? I'm a red head for crying out loud! How can red _not_ be my colour?"

"Exactly! It will clash with your hair therefore making it not your colour. My logic is sound" His large hands clumsily rubbed over my back indicating that this was just as awkward for him as it was for me, although neither of us actually admitting this out loud for some reason. Before I knew it however, the awkwardness was over and Sirius had left my side and was helping James in embarrassing the large Slytherin in front of his friends. To say they were bullies would have been a tad harsh, but the Marauder's certainly did have a thing for some unneeded harsh jokes. Especially on my beloved dark knight. That's what I have decided to call him from now on. I found it rather fitting if not cheesy, the perfect combination. He was almost vampiric in ways, like myself and more than a few times I had caught him creeping behind an armoured knight, doing what though I don't even want to know! Most likely something Slytherin, they were renowned for their odd ways after all. A trait I found rather enticing in Severus.

I settled into the warm grass fully equipped to enjoy the suns rays like a normal person now that my back and shoulders had been protected by _Madam Kilns factor 1000 sun lotion_. Apparently the back of the bottle claims that it can also protect from small flame spells. Nice to know if I ever decided to lounge in front of the open fire in the common room that I am fire retardant. _Note, wear this next time I decide to try and seduce Severus, just encase he decides to hex my ass. Always good to be prepared!_

"James Potter! Put him down now!" Tones almost as high of that of a Banshee wailed across the lawn, instantly cutting off the commotion that was going on not far off to the side of me. _Was wondering how long it would have taken her to notice, she usually is much quicker than this though_. Must be a really challenging essay she is working on not to notice her boyfriend causing a commotion only a few yards away from her. I didn't even flinch from her sharp tones after being used to hearing them a lot over the last six years, I seem to get on the wrong side of her a lot. Apparently I am a messy room mate! Pfft!

"Let him have some fun Lils, come one live a little for once will you!" I heard what sounded like Sirius call back over to her, "Besides this one deserves it! He tried to punch your sweetheart in the face!" _yeah after he hit him with an unnecessary ball of water I might add, totally undeserved my ass_ I thought to myself as I continued to sunbathe, determined to reclaim some of my summer tan before I was mistaken as Nearly Headless Nick's new ghostly lover.

I was faintly aware of Lily screeching something back before feet pounded past me followed by bouts of laughter. I felt my eyes droop slightly as I suppressed a yawn, sitting idle for hours at a time was something I could never do without falling asleep. Another reason as to why I never enjoyed the sun, hardly anyone wanted to do anything in it but bathe in its fiery rays. Boring didn't even begin to describe how I thought of this activity.

"You will get trampled on if you continue lying there" a very familiar voice muttered above me, causing me to lean on my chin and gaze upwards. The sun was too bright to make them out properly but I could definitely see it was a boy, a boy who was tall and had dark longish hair.

"I'm not invisible, just lying down" I hazily replied as I placed my cheek to the grass again, completely ignoring my unwanted visitor. "People aren't blind you know, plus they are miles off anyway"

The boy lingered above me, letting out a frustrated sigh that I placed almost instantly, "fine, get stampeded upon for all I care!"

"That you Severus?" I asked as I rushed to sit up hoping to catch him before he stormed off like he usually did after uttering one of his huffs, my voice calling out his name seemed to be enough to stop him dead in his tracks however and turn back around to face me. "I thought it was you but couldn't see you in this dreadful weather" I put my hand up over my eyes as a shield to see him better, it had been almost twenty hours since I had seen him last and I wanted to drink him all in. Once I did however, I burst out into a snort filled laugh. "Then again who else would be wearing an all black ensemble on a bright and sunny day, eh?"

He shook his head at me before a small blush creeped up his cheeks and he looked away, seeming unsure as to where to look it seemed. "Your top is undone" He simply said, refusing to look at me in case he caught a glimpse of some of my Gryffindor goodies.

I looked down to see my white lacy bra fully exposed from my rush to sit up and forgetting to re-tie my halter-neck. I made a noise similar to that of a horse before I shook my head and fixed my straps, protecting my modesty once again. "they have been put back in their cages now, feel free to open your eyes once again" I smiled, not embarrassed in the slightest. If I hadn't been flaunting about in a bikini half the summer then I might have been a bit prudish, but really its not like he had seen anything really so there was no need to get all in a tiss, like poor Severus himself who still wouldn't look at me. I would take him seeing me in my nice white bra any day to repeating that knicker flashing incident, that was sure! "You okay? I didn't blind you with my unappealing body did I? Always happens to the boys here in-"

"You're not unappealing in the slightest" He said, cutting me off mid humorous rant. He was now facing me and the pink on his cheeks had turned instantly more red as his eyes bulged in what I could only describe as horror, "what I mean is that you di-didn't blind me" His fingers seemed to be everywhere as he spoke; touching the buttons on his cloak, fiddling with the wand in his pocket, twirling with the silver chain around his neck. He was never usually this impatient or nervous, couldn't quite place what one it could be. Suddenly his hands stopped still at his sides and his face became neutral. "You really shouldn't expose yourself in public like that unless you want people thinking sluttish things about you"

"Okay..." I mumbled as I fixed my legs so I was now sitting Indian style. He really is so weird at times. _I'm_ really weird at times! I sighed internally at the comparison, _we are well sharing a room in the Mentally Insane ward at St. Mungo's! _I thought as a large smile crept over my pale lipstick covered mouth. I decided to ignore his unusual behaviour however and focus on something more important that had just crossed my mind. "Why are you talking to me?" I blurted out rather offhandedly. _Shit, way to go little miss delicate! What happened to charming and seducing him eh? _

His face snarled instantaneously, "I don't know why I am talking to you myself"

"I didn't mean it like that! Just, you know..." I trailed off as I indicated to the people not far away from us, all my friends having now joined James and the upside down hanging Slytherin plus a few more spectators which had now caused a rather large crowd, "You have never talked to me so openly in public before"

His expression softened as he took a few steps towards me, "neither have you"

"Have too!" I smiled up at him as I patted for him to sit down next to me on the grass. I didn't care if Lexi, Remus or Peter noticed who I was speaking to, but James, Sirius or Lily would be another matter entirely. It wasn't like I was embarrassed about my association with him or anything, just didn't want Severus to get thrown into the lake. Which would inevitably happen sooner or later if they found out what I was up to. Now however, everyone was still crowded around the crotch drenched Slytherin who was not hanging upside down by his ankle any more nut was laughing with a large group of other students over something I couldn't see in the middle of the crowd. "Besides, I am talking to you now aren't I?"

He looked around himself before sitting down, as far from me as possible but still close enough to talk at a normal range. _Thought he might have had me shouting to him across the lake there, but thankfully no. I am not that repulsive. Only a foot or so it seems. Wonderful! _

"So..." I began as I casually gazed up at the cloudless sky while trying to think of what to say but finding nothing non-embarrassing to share apart from, "what brings you out here anyway?" _How utterly fascinating! Why didn't I just ask him about the weather as that would of surely have been on par with how ridiculously mundane that question was!_

He didn't answer for a moment, the laughter and shouting from the nearby crowd falling over us and filling the silence between us. "I fancied a break from studying and saw it was nice out"

This caused me to snap my head over to his awkwardly sitting body; legs outstretched and gangly looking with his hands changing positions every two seconds, and gaze over his pasty white complexion. "and here was me thinking you would turn to ash in the sunlight!" His eyes narrowed causing me to giggle slightly, "I'm not poking fun, really! Just didn't see you as being the outdoor type that's all. Thought you would have been more of a night walker like myself" I pointed to my own whiter than normal skin, "see we are sunlight recluses together!"

His eyes softened as his posture seemed to relax and become more comfortable, the fidgeting coming to an end as he gazed at my bright smile. "I assumed you liked the sun after spending most of your summer in France"

My smile became wide and excited, "you actually listen to me rant about my summer holidays? Not even Lexi has the willpower to do that!"

"Well unlike others, I can listen while brewing a potion therefore doing two things at once" He smiled slyly over at me, causing my cheeks to redden and not from the sun I tell you! I always thought it strange when I got embarrassed, especially in front of Severus as most things didn't tend to make me blush. Although I had noticed that the past few months I had been doing quite a lot of it around him. _Merlin I hope I don't turn into one of them eyelash batting girls_. I was never one for that sort of flirting, I mean hadn't they ever heard of the butterfly effect? I thought of the tons of females who flirted their eyelashes at the Marauder's and instantly shuddered at the amount of tornadoes and what not Australia was no doubt having because of it. _Poor Aussie's..._

"I'm sorry about yesterday" I suddenly blurted out, not really knowing where I was heading with it but feeling that I ought to apologise for possibly contributing to Merlin knows what slaggings he got after it. I didn't like feeling responsible for making him feel horrible, even if it was only slightly. "I just wanted to help you, and I'm sorry as I know you don't like me helping you but I just thought I should let you know that I didn't do it to be mean" I fiddled with my fingers as my eyes refused to look over at his shadowing place not far from mine. "I'm sorry for what some of the students have been saying also..."

Silence. Complete and utter silence washed over us. _Merlin I am an idiot for bringing that up. He didn't mention it so why should I? I may as well of outright asked him if his dad beats his arse as that would have been less awkward than this as he would of no doubt just of hexed me senseless until I couldn't talk any more._

"I didn't need your help" He half growled through gritted teeth causing me to pout slightly at how harsh he was now being towards me over it. We just sat staring uncomfortably at each other for a while until he spoke again, his voice more throaty and deep like usual and lacking most of the anger from his first statement, "It was...considerate of you to think I might of needed help, but I didn't"

_Wow! Did he just...thank me?_ Well, he didn't directly utter the words 'thank you', but it was clearly a statement which said 'thanks for saving my arse yesterday'. I feel so special right now! Severus Snape has just thanked me, Olivia White, and not anyone else. Ever! I held in my girly squeal as I scooted closer to him, grinning all the while like a small child in a sweetie factory, and hugged him. Full on threw myself at him and enveloped him into a bear hug. _Merlin this feels so good..._

"What...what are you doing!" He exclaimed before he started trying to push me off him and back over to my original spot on the grass. His body was tense and hard, but I could clearly feel the little muscle definition he had going on through his thin cloak and uniform. I wasn't one for the overly buffed males and Severus certainly didn't disappoint on that level. He was tall, gangly and not ripped and ready to burst like some of the guys on the Quidditch teams. Women wanted men not the green hulk for Merlin's sake! Some of the boys had clearly overdone the training though. Severus on the other hand was sport retarded, or so I assumed, as although he watched all the Slytherin games I had never heard him mention Quidditch in a conversation, nor did he seem the kind to be interested in any of the Muggle sports. Ah, another thing we have in common as I couldn't kick a ball or catch a snitch to save myself. "Will you just get off me and leave me alone! I don't want you anywhere near me, ever!" He finally shouted as he shoved me to the ground and then stood up, ready to walk away. _Well that was slightly rude!_ But then again, I did throw myself at him. _Oh my, I'm becoming one of those desperate girls you see who virtually smell of desperado as they throw themselves at anyone willing. So not good! _I thought as I straightened myself up in time to see Severus storm off without so much as giving me another glance. So much for me being delicate and trying to apologize for yesterday. I literally make a mess of everything so I do.

"What's up with you?"

I jumped at the sudden intrusion and looked up to see Sirius Black peering down at me, his hair a bit worse for wear than before. "Nothing" I pouted as I sat on the grass like a huffy little girl. My plans of trying to make Severus like me were going severely belly up. I've defended him twice, something he absolutely detested, I've almost kissed him but failed, showed him my most unattractive pair of knickers and hugged him and invaded his personal space only for him to tell me to bugger off forever. I really am utter bollocks at this discrete flirting business. Will need to think long and hard for some new tactics as I don't care what he says, I am continuing talking to him. There is no way on earth I am just leaving him to hang around with Mulciber and Merlin knows what other hooligans!

"Clearly its something to have you sitting here with a face like a sour lemon!" He barked out gruffly before looking over his shoulder at something, "Its got something to do with _him_ ain't it? Did he do something? "

"Who?" I snapped as I pushed his legs out of the way to see what he had been looking at, and sure enough the small and far away, but clearly distinguishable figure, of Severus Snape was clear to see behind him walking into the castles side door. "Oh, him..." _I'm not even trying to hide my disappointment now. What the hell is wrong with me?_

"I knew it!" he hissed before calling over at the now much smaller crowd behind him, "James! Moony! Over here now!"

"What are you calling them over for?" I snapped, I was on my feet now looking around me like a deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming truck, "I don't see why you need them over- there is no need for- why would you- I mean what are you-"

"Just shush" he said, putting his hand over my mouth as he spoke. James and Remus appearing beside him as he did so. Sirius opened his mouth to address them but I cut him off.

"Do not do whatever it is he says, he is talking utter nonsense!" I demanded as I stared each of my friends down, lingering longer over James. "What the hell happened to you!"

The dark haired boy muttered something under his breath as he kicked the ground with his tennis shoe clad feet. His hair was just as messy as usual but his glasses had been smashed, and he had a black eye and what looked like blood coming down from his nose. _I thought Gill had only attempted to punch him? _

Remus smiled at his downtrodden friend before replying in much better and clearer English, "Lily punched him for bullying people"

"I did not bully anyone! He was asking for it!" James huffed as he nursed his face in his hands, "Besides Lily will forgive me, she's my girlfriend now so she has to. Right?"

"She punched you! Wow!" I said, utterly gob smacked before snickering slightly, "She looks like she has one mean right hook on her that's for sure!"

"That she does" Remus smiled as James just rolled his eyes and started mumbling under his breath something about _pixies_ and _twelve bouquets of golden lily flowers_.

"Yeah yeah Lily can throw a punch!" Sirius sarcastically sniped as he strode between us and put his hands on his hips. _God he was so camp sometimes it was ridiculous. He seemed to be able to pull it off though, so kudos to him!_ "We have something more important to discuss; Snivellus' unhealthy and creeping attitude towards Olivia"

The small smirk was wiped from my face faster than you could say Dumbledore, "What?"

"Its okay Olli, I saw him creeping about over here earlier and if I hadn't needed to help Lexi pry Lily off James" James protested to this very loudly but was ignored, "then I would have been over here in a flash to sort him out, trust me!" I rolled my eyes at his absurd statement and opened my mouth to complain about how stupid he was being before he cut me off, "First detention with him, then he had you pitying him in Defence the other day and now he is creeping round you on the grounds and doing Merlin knows what to upset you! Nope, not on our watch he ain't!"

"Don't forget his friend trying to chat up Lexi last week either" Remus laughed lightly only causing me to look confused. _Oh! Mulciber was Severus' friend? Maybe he did keep bad company after all... _I frowned at the thought.

Sirius' face looked ready to murder someone as he took in Remus' words. He always was rather possessive of his things, which clearly indicated that he fancied the pants of Lexi and thought of her as his, therefore making this more about her than me. _Nice to know my feelings are always being considered. Lovely! _

"And what are you going to do about it eh? Yeah Mulciber is a git, but Severus is just...is just..." _What was Severus?_ I couldn't say the hottest Slytherin ever to have graced Hogwarts with his presence. No no, I would definitely be carted off to St. Mungo's for a head check if I said that. _Misunderstood? Was he?_ I mean, he was confirmed friends with _He Who Must Not Be Named_ supporter Mulciber, and had an overly zealous interest in the Dark Arts. _What the hell could I say that would make them think otherwise?_ I was cut to the chase of bothering though by James answering for me.

"A nosey interfering bastard is what he is!" _well its clear to say that he hasn't gotten over what he did to Lily then._ I gazed down at his flexing arm muscles and tightened fists. _Definitely not the time to be sharing my undying secret love for Severus today. Another time when they are in better moods, or sedated even._

"Couldn't have put it better myself mate!" a much more calmer Sirius smirked before he clapped his palms together and ushered his two room mates over for a private discussion before looking over at me with a caring look, "Don't worry love, I promise that whatever he has done to hurt you today he will pay for it, him and Mulciber are going to regret ever gracing anyone with their ugly presence'"

I gulped at the two determined faces of my friends, Remus own face looking nearly as worried as my own before he offered me a small encouraging smile which I read as '_I will do my best not to let them kill someone_' before he and the murder-some twosome walked off towards the direction of the Whoomping Willow.

I stood rooted to the ground with utter disbelief. _Did I just scare away Severus and sign his death warrant all in the same hour?_ I looked over at the three plotting boys walking off in front of me and realised I most definitely had. _Could this day possibly get any worse?_ Just as I thought that, the bell signalled that our free periods were over and it was almost time for class. I looked down at my still casually dressed appearance and sulked. _Great, now I gonna be late for class also meaning yet another detention!_ Needless to say, my usually smiling demeanour was replaced with a scowling one as I all but grumbled at everyone who passed me with so much as a happy look on their faces. _Looks like I will need to rescue Severus again_, I can just see his angry expression, and not one of his sexy angry ones, no, a proper '_I hate you and hope you die' _one before he hexes me for defending him yet again. _Still, I don't have anything black to wear at his funeral otherwise so its my only option_. I slapped my hand to my face as I realised I now had to either admit my feelings for Severus to the Marauders or stalk them until Merlin knows when, to assure that they wouldn't kill him. Mulciber they could kill, hell Lexi would second that as he creeped her out to no end. _But Severus?_ Hell no! I was not letting them lay a finger on that sexy piece of ass, even if it meant them throwing me out of their group of friends. _Some sacrifices are worth it_, I thought.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay so this is quite a whopper of an update. Hope you guys like the tention i tried to create in this chapter, and that you don't find the Severus POV's too well ehm...watery? Utter dribble even? Lol :| For those who wanted a big confrontation between the Marauders and Snape, all in due time! Just thought it a bit soon to be expossing everything atm, i mean nothing is even going on between them yet! Lol. Anyways, thanks soooo much to all who have reviewed/favourited this story so far. You guys are more than awesome! :D :D**

Chapter Ten: The Almost Duel

_**Severus' POV**_

"Did you see the papers this morning Snape? Two more _people_ are missing!" Mulciber smiled next to me as he sprawled out this mornings edition of The Daily Prophet onto the table before us, his lunch completely abandoned as he continued to rattle on about how exciting it all was.

"I saw it this morning at breakfast" My mother had sent me a copy with her usual letter of distaste with the morning owls. I immediately threw her letter of hate filled words into the fireplace in Slytherin common room not wasting my time in reading the same rubbish that was sent time and time again by her, but decided to hang onto the Prophet due to its interesting headlines and a letter from Lucius also, knowing it would no doubt be of utmost importance.

"His scale is getting bigger it seems. Ministry can't even find a single clue as to who's doing it all and have even given him the nickname, _He Who Must Not Be Named_" My fellow Slytherin laughed manically next to me as he pointed to the non-moving picture on the front cover on the newspaper which showed two muggle adults smiling happily next to several smiling youngsters. I felt a small bit of some emotion hit me as I gazed hard at how the couple smiled broadly down at what I assumed was their children. They didn't look to be much older than thirty and all the children seemed to be under the age of five or six, and now they were gone. _Murdered_. And their children were orphaned. Before I could think any more on the matter Mulciber interrupted my thoughts, his head only inches from mine as he bent down low into my ear, "but we all know his real name don't we Snape"

I nodded briskly at his statement as I continued finishing my lunch of a plain baked potato with cheese. I had never cared for any of the fancy food that most of my other house mates had become accustomed to from living in their pure blood homes. It was a firm reminder to myself that I wasn't the same as them, that I was different and had to work even harder to accomplish things that they could just achieve through their status alone. I felt my fists clenching at the reminder of how much they thought I was bellow them, bellow their standards of superiority and Pure Blood status even though I was selected just like them to join the cause, as Lucius liked to refer to it as. It seemed that to some people skills still overshadowed blood when it came to certain things, something I was most proud of considering people with bloodlines such as myself where being killed left, right and centre by the same _cause_ these days.

"That weird and ugly Gryffindor is staring over here again" Mulciber's bored tones cut into my thoughts. He had now abandoned reading his newspaper and was glaring over at the Gryffindor table. Apparently _Potter_ and his crew had cursed him last week at some point for attempting to chat up that blonde that Olivia was constantly with. I thought it was incredibly idiotic of him to even think of that Gryffindor as attractive never mind approaching her over the matter. _Fool._ "She is always staring over at this table, shame it ain't her pretty friend instead eh?" I instantly knew who he was referring to without even having to move my head and look; Olivia White and her constant need to stare over at me during every meal. Annoying seemed to be her middle name.

I didn't even give him any acknowledgement that I had heard his crude statement, not that he cared too much. He was only socialising with me because he knew we had similar, _interests _shall we say. If it wasn't for that he wouldn't even acknowledge my person, that was something I was most definitely positive on. She on the other hand, seemed to acknowledge me regardless of who I was friends with and my rather questionable interests never seemed to make any difference to her opinion of me either. To say I firmly disagreed with Mulciber on the matter that the blonde was more prettier than her would be putting it lightly. Olivia was most definitely not on most men's list of pretty Hogwarts students, but she had something about her that would draw you in. Unlike her friend who was as common as pretty girls can be. Blonde airheads did very little to impress me. Although, the sheer braveness of some of Olivia's comments did, and it killed me to admit that she was most definitely growing on me, despite our little moment Wednesday near the lake.

After our detention together, I was left completely baffled by her. She had completely broken all my boundaries on personal contact and for some strange reason, I wasn't overly upset that she had. Yes, it was uncomfortable when she had sat so close to me the hairs on our arms were practically touching, but the strange feelings that had washed over me when she had, made it strangely worth it. I never thought anyone would ever want to consider trying to get to know me after all that had transpired since starting Hogwarts. She seemed to be breaking all the rules to associate herself with me and I couldn't for the life of me place why. She was friends with people that I hated and hated me respectfully, and was as polar opposite to me in every way. I told myself it was for this reason that I let myself go along with some of her conversations, that I included myself more than I normally would just so I could figure out her reasons for associating with me in the first place. But recently I had felt myself looking forward to her smiling demeanour and her less than charming comments. Where I was dark she was light, and I just couldn't help but be drawn in by her smiling ways and unusual characteristics. It was for that reason I decided to approach her outside and try to talk to her. I had been watching her since she and the other Gryffindors had come outside, all bathing in the sunlight while she hid under a tree with the little rat one. I could blatantly see him looking at her disrespectfully, even from my angle on the other side of the lake, and it stirred something deep inside me that was strong enough to push me to go over and speak to her. Needless to say, it didn't turn out to well. Sitting here now, looking at her smiling face, made me regret my less than pleasing words to her. It was just the shock of her warm and soft body against mine and the heat that seemed to be rising in me that caused me to act so irrationally. I couldn't understand this hold she had over me, these feelings her presence, her smile, would cause me, and I knew that from upsetting her that day I might never experience them again and I could feel something inside of me breaking at that thought.

I gazed over to the Gryffindor table and ignored the dimwits that were around her, smothering her almost with their over zealous attitudes, and found her smiling face staring right at mines. _Was she always staring over at me at this table? Or was it for something else, some sneaky silly plan that Potter and the rest had her roped in on? _I subconsciously found myself snarling in her direction as the thought of all her smiling advances could possibly be some tempting distraction to something sinister that her _friends_ were planning. I watched glumly as her smile dropped and her cheeks flushed before she turned away, her blonde friend now glaring over in my direction in a laughable attempt to put me in my place somehow. _Black_ leaned into Olivia's side, whispering something into her ear causing her smile to re-appear almost instantaneously, although not as bright as it was before. My scowl only deepened as I forced myself to look away and continue with lunch.

"I knew she liked me, probably why her midget friend was staring over here" Mulciber smirked devilishly as he nodded his head to indicate the still frowning blonde at the Gryffindor table. I didn't reply or attempt to ground his thoughts by telling him no-one had been staring at him, as my own thoughts were still firmly fixed on Olivia and just why I couldn't for the life of me get them to focus on anything else and how I knew that I needed to bite my tongue and apologise for my actions earlier in the week if I was to ever see her smile like that at me again. I internally grumbled at the thought of them words ever tainting my lips. My eyes then caught sight of another red head at the Gryffindor table and I soon found myself agreeing to my previous thought as soon as I was reminded of how I had lost my previous friend. I was never one to believe in luck or fate or any of that stupidity that they taught you in Divination, but even I could see that the rare occurrence of two willing people,two willing females for that matter, wanting to even come within ten meters of me was extremely rare. Even for one to want to befriend me was mind boggling, but two, and both Gryffindors? _They should have been in Hufflepuff_, I thought as my mind focussed on their over accepting natures, then I was reminded of their fiery tongues and retraced my steps. Olivia's loud laughter prickled my ears and I immediately made a pact with the Devil. I urged myself to find her at some point and force myself to interact with her, hoping that any apologies would be forgotten about and that maybe, just maybe I could find another sweet and charming girl in her like that of Lily.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

"Why do we need to do this again? You know how much I hate dress shopping, nothing fits me right" I complained as Lexi dragged me into one of the two dress stores in Hogsmeade. I had been dragging my feet ever since we had left the castle just after lunch, I wasn't in the mood for anything today never mind prancing around shops looking for a Halloween outfit to wear to the dance next weekend. I hated dances. If only for the basic reason of no-one ever wanted to dance with me apart from freakishly weird people. _Seriously, was that really the kind of vibe I was giving off?_ I glanced down at my dark brown turtle-neck, my brown and white flowered a-line dress and deep orange tights with red doc martens. _Yup, apparently this is the look crazy people are turned on by. Mental note; bin this outfit the moment we get back to Hogwarts._

"Stop huffing will you and c'mon! There is only a matter of days until the dance and I still don't have anything to wear!" I could see the panic and stress etched into her face as she continued to drag me past several units of clothing until we reached the small Muggle section up the back, which was completely over run by costumes. I already knew what I wanted to go as, whether I was actually going to go was another question entirely though. My green slits eyed the small huddle of assorted animals and such cautiously as Lexi almost threw herself into the rack and began filtering through it like a mad woman.

"Jeez! You would think your life depended on finding an outfit in the next five minutes by the way you are acting!" I laughed as my blonde companion shot me a death glare and continued to ravage the small collection of costumes. I touched a bunny one gently, acting as though it was real and going to bite me. "I severely doubt I am going to be finding something to wear in here" My eyes caught sight of a belly dancer costume which barely held enough material to cover your delicates, "Lexi think I found your costume though!" I smirked as I held it up to her, my voice causing several of the other people in the shop to turn and give me dirty looks.

"You are hilarious!" was Lexi's monotone reply as she didn't even bother to look up at me. "Oh look, found one that was just made for you Olivia. You have the hair for it and are the perfect height"

I squirmed at the oompa loompa costume that she held between her bright pink manicured hands. "Wow! How much is it?" I gasped realistically causing her to look bewildered and slightly scared. "As if I would really show up dateless wearing that thing! I may not overly care what the majority of our classmates think of me Lexi, but I do not want to be burnt at the stake for serious crimes against fashion"

Lexi scoffed at me in return as she moved to another small rail of costumes in the shop. "When have you ever cared about appearances Olivia?" I shot her one of my outraged expressions which in turn caused her to raise a delicately pruned eyebrow at me until I slouched my shoulders in reluctant agreement, "Exactly! You flounce about wearing that monstrosity," she scolded while pointing to my lovely brown and orange ensemble, "while acting like a de-caged pixie and chasing after greasy Slytherins. You Missy, do not care what anyone thinks!"

I smiled slyly at her. "Not true at all! I, my dear friend, care what a certain Mr. Sexy Slytherin thinks!" I then remembered that he thought me annoying and aggravating and how he wanted nothing more to do with me because of them traits, "But we all know that he thinks of me don't we..." I pouted as I gazed at a princess costume with distaste.

"Oh Olli!" Lexi sighed as she appeared at my side and gave me a hug, "We have spoken about this numerous times and I will say it again if I have to; he is not worthy of you!" She smiled slightly at me as she held me out in front of her by the shoulders. "He has been nothing but rude to you and he doesn't deserve someone as lovely as you in his life. Let Sirius and that beat him up. Him and that nasty Gorilla Mulciber he calls a friend" I couldn't help but notice how she shivered at the mere mention of Mulciber. "I would much like to beat him up myself if I wasn't so worried about getting a detention" Yup, Lexi's biggest fear. Being punished for something and scarring her impeccable record for life. Also the reason why I knew deep down she really wouldn't like to see Sirius beat the crap out of the Slytherin, she hated seeing him fight and then get punished for it. It was the one thing about Sirius she never quite understood; his constant need to get revenge on people and how much he seemed to actually enjoy it.

I shook her hands off my shoulders as I plastered a wide smile on my face, determined I wasn't going to dampen anyones day of shopping. Even if it was my idea of hell. "Well how about we hurry up and finish up in here then go to the Three Broomsticks and have a long discussion about how we shall castrate that Mulciber for being such a crude git eh?"

She seemed to take my hint for her to stop talking about Severus as she did nothing but give me a small smile and nod in return before she left me alone and began searching the rails once more for something scantily clad that could be classed as Halloween wear.

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

"So where is this meeting again then?" I questioned my fellow Slytherin next to me who grunted in return. I don't know how or why I had found myself walking into Hogsmeade town with Mulciber after lunch, but here I was striding into town with him for some meeting he had apparently been summoned to by Lucius Malfoy. I had also been _invited_, so to speak, but strangely found myself questioning whether or not I should go. I shoved all silly thoughts from my mind knowing that this was exactly what I should be doing; taking control of my future.

"Its in the Hogshead" my large companion grunted next to me as we continued to stride along getting nearer to our destination with every step. "And you should know by know that it isn't a meeting" He added with a slight growl as he laughed at my apparent stupidity which was nothing more than just feigned interest in trying to start a conversation. I knew exactly what it was and why we where going. To think otherwise just proved his own stupidity. I knew why we had these meetings every so often, but knowing that I knew much more than most without having to attend anything, made this a severe waste of my time. However it was an opportunity to see my old friend Lucius, and I needed every opportunity to see friends at the moment considering I now had very little. An image of a frowning Olivia popped into my head which I quickly locked away deep down inside. I would deal with that problem later, most likely in The Three Broomsticks where she usually was at Hogsmeade outings. Right now however, I needed all my wits about me to keep my thoughts focused and straight. The last thing I needed was someone catching onto who was plaguing my thoughts, something that would end very badly for Olivia if any of my companions ever found out.

I scowled silently as I mentally reminded myself why I continuously put up with my fellow house mates snide remarks and taunting. It was hard trying to find somewhere to fit in when either everyone hated you for being in Slytherin and finding the Dark Arts fascinating, or looked down upon you because you had _dirty blood_, so to speak. I would be lying if I didn't admit that all this Dark Lord business was more than slightly fascinating to me. It was thrilling at times in fact. To know that someone was out there murdering people with bloodlines like myself or lower but thought my skills were more than worthy enough to look past all of that. I straightened up considerably at the mere reminder of it. _Finally someone who found my interests note worthy and not seedy or strange_ I smiled smugly to myself.

The Hogshead Inn came into view not even five minutes later. Mulciber bounded in before me as I followed silently behind, my eyes instantly searching the Inn for long blonde hair.

"Nice of you to join us" long polite notes filtered over to us from a table up the back. I turned to see Lucius Malfoy and a few other students from my year sitting at a rather large table which was partially hid from view. "Please, take a seat"

I recognised the faces of the other students to be that of Avery and Rosier, two fellow seventh year Slytherins that I would faintly consider as acquaintances as we had similar _interests_. "Nice to see you Lucius. Congratulations on your marriage" I greeted him as I sat at his side, nodding to the others at the table in acknowledgement as I did so.

"Thank you Severus. It was a shame you had to miss it" was his only reply before he began speaking of what we had planned for after Graduation. I had been to three of these meetings since the end of last summer and it was always the same thing. He would inadvertently discuss the goings on in the world of Death Eaters without openingly discussing it in public, trying to judge our interests in the subject and gauge how well we were doing at certain areas in school. We attended as we were expected to, being young potential recruits ourselves. Personally I wasn't overly thrilled about joining a group. I had always been solitude in nature and liked to keep to myself. The only reason I had decided to take this opportunity was because of two things; people like Potter and Black needed to be wiped from this world and taught a lesson, and secondly, I needed to show my fellow Slytherins that I was more than just a worthless half-blood. That I too had similar views on society and that I could do what most of them could do in my sleep. It was time that I showed people that I wasn't someone to just bully and shove in a corner. I smiled slyly at my fellow Slytherins across the table.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

It wasn't exactly scorching out, but I felt the need to have an ice cream and cool down either way. Lexi had dragged me in and out of too many shops to speak of today and I desperately needed something to cool me down and relax me. Therefore how the ice cream came into play.

I could literally feel the jumper material of my turtle-neck sticking to my sweaty back as we strolled over to Halder's Ice-cream Parlour. _I am no doubt absolutely smelling_, I thought as I casually leant down and sniffed my left under arm. _Wonderful, I smell like rotten peanuts_. _Knew I shouldn't have bought that cheaper deodorant._ I scoffed slightly as I joined the small queue out front of the shop, my mind trying my best to remember that cleaning spell we had learnt the other week which would really come in handy about now.

"Do we really need to wait in this long queue?" Lexi groaned as she appeared behind me, dropping several bags onto the ground at her feet as she too joined the queue. He appearance just as clean and pristine as it was when we left the castle three hours ago. How she does it, I will never ever know! "I could do with a chilled bottle of butter beer instead of ice-cream. I don't like ice-cream all that much actually. Besides, thought we were heading to The Three Broomsticks now anyway?"

I sighed heavily as I slapped my right palm against my face. "Well get some butter beer flavoured ice-cream then!" I snapped at her as I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot against the cobblestoned street. "Contrary to popular belief Lexi, this whole shopping trip isn't all about you and what you want to do"

We had been in clothes stores so she could find an outfit, the post office so she could check their owl catalogues since she couldn't find anything to wear in the shops, back into the clothes stores again to see their accessories once she found an owl ordered outfit and then up and down the high street several times to look for Lily as she wanted her opinion on it all before she actually decided to purchase anything for definite. It was torture! Utter torture! I myself took one look in the post office, flicked through a few of their muggle catalogues and ordered and paid for an outfit all within fifteen minutes. I didn't like to drag things out. That, plus I wanted to be free to search the village for Severus. Sirius and the rest where here somewhere and I didn't want to risk them all _accidentally_ bumping into each other without me being there to buffer it slightly. That was my own secret goal for coming today, nothing to do with shopping in the slightest.

"Well sor-ray if I am a picky shopper!" Lexi scowled back at me as she grabbed at her numerous shopping bags as the queue moved forward. "Its not my fault I have an addiction"

"Yeah, an addiction to spending all your parents money more like it!" I laughed as I rolled my eyes at her, helping her with some of her bags as I did so. Lexi's family was extremely wealthy considering her mother was like from some pure-blooded Aristocratic lineage, and her father had a wonderful job at the Ministry Of Magic. My family on the other hand, consisted of my muggle mother earning next to nothing working in a laundrette, while my father worked in the Muggle Liaison Office at the Ministry. Not two of the best paid jobs, which was why I currently worked most of my summer to fund my high attainable lifestyle of being friends with Lexi Kingsley. It was a most expensive excursion, let me tell you!

"Ha ha!" she fake laughed before shaking her head at me and smiling. "Your next in the queue"

I smiled brightly before placing my order with the elderly man at the counter who looked faintly like the child catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. A movie I personally loved, apart from his co-operation in it however. It scared me terribly when It first came out and I saw his character in it. I hid under my bed for a week and refused to go into my mothers car for even longer! Despite this though, I didn't flinch away from the man as he handed me my Neapolitan topped cone which I immediately began devouring, stopping only for a second to address my tall sulking friend behind me. "We can head to The Three Broomsticks now where Lily and that are if you want. Get you that butter beer you want so badly. You know, the one that might put a smile back on your face?" I smiled up at her before licking my ice-cream once again.

"You are pushing it with the sarcasm today my friend" she smiled down at me before trudging off ahead of me, her tall thin frame bulked by the numerous bags she was carrying which were causing her to waddle slightly as she walked.

"Hold up and I will help you!" I shouted at her back before running off and taking a few bags off her to join my own solitary one. We reached the Inn's doors in record braking time, Lexi no doubt was dying to see her long haired lover and chat annoyingly in a couples format with him, Lily and James, leaving me to devour the rest of my ice-cream in peace and quiet hopefully and not having to entertain Peter if Remus was present to do so for me.

Just as always, the smell of warm bodies and drink infiltrated my nostrils as the intense noise of laughing and chattering deafened my ears as soon as the Inn's doors where opened. It seemed almost the whole schools population of six and seventh years had took this opportunity to invade the town of Hogsmeade once last time in a last ditch attempt to find something to wear for next weekend. I don't think I have ever seen the Inn so crowded before, and that was saying something as I had never once seen it empty. I followed closely behind Lexi and her tall lithe body as she easily meandered through the large crowd. I scuttled at her heels as my left hand protectively shielded what was left of my cone from the tall moving bodies surrounding me. There would be death to pay if someone knocked my ice cream on the floor after I had waited twenty minutes in a queue only to be greeted by the child catcher himself to get it.

"Lexi! Over here!" I heard a stern noted voice call over to my 'bodyguard' which I immediately recognised as Lily's. "Sirius go be a gentleman and help her with them bags!"

I laughed silently at the fiery red head telling Sirius what to do. He was no don't murmuring obscenities under his breath about her as I saw his reluctant form come into view before us. "Here let me help you with those" he hissed slightly as he drew a dirty look to the table of people he had just left behind him before genuinely smiling once he had turned back to Lexi. "It's my pleasure by the way, not Lily's. No matter what she likes to say"

"Thanks so much! These are absolutely killing me!" I exhaled as I pushed past Lexi's smiling person and loaded the four bags I had been carrying into his arms before he could even protest. I had not even moved two steps away from him however before a large overweight body purposely banged right into me causing me to fall over onto my side and drop my overpriced ice-cream onto the dirty Inn's floors. I pouted childishly before glaring up to see who had knocked me over so ungraciously and being met with the ugly face of Mulciber, a seventh year Slytherin. "You made me drop my ice-cream" I pouted up at him with sad eyes as I signalled to the melting pile of pink, white and brown on the floor. I crossed my arms over my chest before continuing. "That cost me thirteen sickles!"

"And what of it?" he growled down at me with menacing eyes before deliberately trampling on my leather satchel which had fallen off my shoulder during my fall from grace. The loud noise of my box of strawberry witches hats being crushed to smithereens resounded off my ears. "Deserves you right for getting in my way you filthy half-blood freak!"

I narrowed my eyes at him before preparing myself to get up off the floor and curse him into next week. _Who the hell did he think he was anyways? _Hassling my best mate for sexual favours and dates, destroying my delicious desserts and knocking me to the floor in a public place and no doubt leading Severus astray with his menacing ways. I added the last one in for good measure. "You are gonna pay for-"

"Is there a problem here?" Sirius' deadly calm tones cut over mines as his tall dark figure stepped in front of mines protectively, all bags none gone from his arms._ How embarrassing_, I thought as I suddenly became aware of how quiet the other students in the Inn had become, no doubt readying themselves for a show now that Sirius had become involved and had his wand out and ready between his steady hands. "I think you owe the Lady an apology. The removal alone of your ugly presence might suffice enough though, wait and I will ask her..."

Lexi appeared behind me just then and helped me to my feet, asking me in numerous different ways if I was okay under her breath as she did so. "Are you hurt? Did you break anything? Does this feel sore? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" I solemnly said to her as I found myself standing behind Sirius and glaring under his arm at the large Gorilla of a man in front of us. He really was terribly ugly. His height was about the same as Severus', but apart from that he was as polar opposite of my sexy Slytherin in ever possible way. His head was large and round and bore several large spots and blisters while his small dark beading eyes were filled with nothing but distaste and evil. His casual robes were practically bursting at the seams as they clung to every spare tire of his body, and there was a lot of them! I found myself grimacing at the ogre before me, something I rarely ever did no matter how distasteful I found the person to be. "Just leave it Sirius and I will handle this myself" I sternly said as I attempted to push past Sirius' sturdy frame, his eyes boring down on me telling me to just let him handle this and go sit down. "I can take care of him on my own thank you" Mulciber raised his wand at us as I said this, a condescending smirk on his face as he did so.

"If you lot are thinking of discussing this further, take it outside yeah?" Rosmerta boomed from behind the bar at us. I looked around and noticed that Lily had joined me and Lexi while the rest of the Marauders' now stood protectively beside Sirius, clearly adopting the same view as him; that I was incapable of putting the 6ft tall Slytherin in his place all on my onsies.

"Fine by me love" Sirius casually called back to her before looking at James for his opinion which was a firm nod in agreement also. Remus looked quietly agreeable but unsure, where as Peter looked ready to faint on the spot over having to even look at the menacing Slytherin before him never mind duel them! "Well if you don't mind then, age before beauty" He slyly said to the hefty Slytherin before him who know had been joined by three cronies. I scowled at each one individual, receiving nothing but scowls back as they pushed their way through the silent crowd and outside into the cobbled streets. Mulciber went first, followed by a tall thin boy with blonde sandy hair who I recognised as Avery, while the third was was definitely Rosier from his small beefy frame and boxer nose. The fourth and last one however, took me by quite a surprise. My scowling features were replaced with confused and hurt ones as I sadly watched Severus Snape trail out of the Inn in support of his friends with not even so much as a look in my direction. _Had he been here the whole of this time? Just standing there, watching Mulciber insult and humiliate me?_ I looked up just in time to see him sadly look back at me and catching my sight with a frown. _No, I refuse to believe he is enjoying all of this_, I thought as I suddenly became aware of the Marauders' leaving the Inn also now. Numerous students in the Inn now coming to their senses and fighting to follow them out to see what was going to happen. I immediately followed suit.

"Olivia where are you going!" Lexi called to me as she grabbed onto my shoulder to try and halt me leaving.

I quickly shrugged her off. "I'm going out to stop them before they do something stupid", Lily nodded in agreement, her features sharp and condescending. I began walking ahead again, murmuring under my breath as I did so, "then I'm gonna hex Mulciber myself for being a complete and utter arsehole"

Lexi and Lily were soon behind me as I burst through the doors and onto the streets of Hogsmeade, a large crowd of people greeting us, which of whom I began pushing through immediately.

"I thought that our last little meeting would of taught you not to go messing with our mates, but sadly it seems it didn't. Even I didn't think you were that thick! Seems I was proven wrong"

"As if a blood traitor like yourself would intimidate me, _Black. _You think I really care about that blonde bimbo? That was just a joke the other week. Same as this is just a joke now"

"Again with the same old names! You really are quite the unimaginative idiot aren't you?" I saw Sirius laugh slyly at the red faced Mulciber, his hand griping tighter onto his wand signalling this was going to get very interesting very soon.

"Say you who hangs around with fellow blood traitors" he pointed at a laughing James and frightened Lexi, "dirty half-bloods like that red headed dwarf and worst of all, Mud bloods" I noticed Severus flinched briefly at Mulciber mentioning that name before becoming harsh and stony once again, "like the snotty nosed ginger bitch who-"

"Do not speak about her like that!" James roared as he flew out past Sirius, his wand high in the air in front of him which in turn caused Mulciber to point his own back at him. Each waiting to see what the other was going to say or do next before actually acting on their threats. I eyed the two angry groups of males before my eyes lingered on the tall dark form of Severus Snape. His wand was drawn also and he was glaring with so much hate and dislike towards James and the rest of the Marauders' I found myself wondering how I could ever of found his snarls cute. He was almost terrifying at this moment in time.

"James, leave it" Lily's voice called over me before she ran past me and appeared at James' side, lifting her arm up to his and lowering his wand. Ignoring the smirking Mulciber behind her ans she continued to speak to James, no doubt trying to calm him down and see sense before things get well out of control. "People like them are not worth it. Please just leave it and just give them detentions and go back to the castle. I don't want to see anyone get hurt..."

James looked like he was debating her words over before Sirius appeared beside him, his wand still drawn and locked on Mulcibers ugly face. "Hell no! Look what he just did to Olivia in there, it was totally on purpose and then there is Lexi the other week, and don't forget what he just called Lily just now! Him and the rest of his lot need to be taught a lesson"

A familiar monotone voice scoffed loudly at Sirius' words, drowning out the noise of the surrounding students shouting 'fight! Fight!'. "And I suppose you think you are the one to do that then _Black_?" Severus' scowl was firmly on Sirius now as he appeared from behind his fellow Slytherins and out to meet Sirius head on. "Defending your girlfriends are we?" Sirius took a threatening step towards him, his body rigid with anger as he stared him down "Oh how lovely" Severus scowled out in reply. His face was even more full of torment and disdain that of a moment ago. _Why was he so upset? Wait. Girlfriends? As in plural? No, didn't really think that I...no no..._

"Why you little..." The dark haired Gryffindor hissed out before speaking again, this time making me finally move my limbs. "_Flipe_-

"Leave it will you!" I hissed at Sirius as I stood protectively in front of Severus, my arms held open like I was about to sprout wings as I inadvertently cut of his spell before it would be fully cast. I could literally hear the tumble weeds rolling past as the chanting crowd had now went suspiciously quiet. I personally had had enough of this silly game of boys puffing out their chests in a pathetic show of manliness and knew I needed to stop it, and fast. "all of you just stop arguing like little boys" I huffed out as I stared at several of their faces before continuing my little rant, "And for Merlin's sakes put your wands away before someone takes their eye out!"

"But...what...why...OLIVIA!" Sirius stuttered out before pushing me behind him and glaring at Severus once again. "This is all your fault!" He snarled out at a utterly confused looking Severus before I grabbed his arm and attempted to pull him back. "What have you been planting in her head!"

"Stop trying to be a show off and leave it! I don't care what happened in there, Lexi is terrified for you over there", I indicated an ashen faced Lexi who was hanging round the inner circle of the crowd and looked torn between ready to faint and coming over and joining me in my useless rant, "and Lily looks like she is just about to start ranting along with me about how childish you guys are being, so you lot are impressing no-one. So come on and lets just go" I grabbed Sirius' gob smacked person and began tugging him along behind me and over to where a slightly more relaxed looking Lexi was standing. She never did like fighting and always reacted badly whenever one broke out. I felt rather sorry for her as she was an excellent duellist but just never got to show it much because of her fear.

Harsh laughter filled the air which caused me to look back at the group of confused looking Slytherins. "Cocky Sirius Black has just been put in his place by an ugly midget! This is hilarious!" Mulciber laughed loudly which only caused my face to harden at his cruel words.

"Oh, believe me Mulciber, I would more than like to see you being humiliated by Sirius in front of everybody here, but I just don't see the need to as your appearance alone is enough to make anyone laugh as it is. Besides the rest of your friends have did nothing so there is no need for this big battle unless you like hiding behind your group of cronies" I hissed over at him, Sirius' hand gripping at my shoulder as I held firmly onto his other one making sure he wouldn't be able to get involved without me knowing. "Here was me thinking Halloween was next weekend too and you are already out in costume", I cocked my head to the side innocently before continuing, "or do you always look like a fat Gorilla?"

"Why you little-"

"Leave it" Severus' tone cut him off as he grabbed hold of Mulciber' wand arm which was raised ready to curse me. His tone was stoic as usual, but I was sure I could see anger evident in his eyes and if I wasn't mistaken it looked like it was aimed at Mulciber, and not me. I too had my wand raised and ready to use knowing Mulciber wouldn't of reacted nicely to my harsh words. I wasn't the best of duellists to be honest, but could definitely stand my own for a bit if needed. "She's not worth it. None of them are" he continued before he shared a look with his fat friend that I didn't fully understand, but one that was enough to make him reluctantly agree with his statement all the same.

"Another time" he spat, I mean literally spat at me before turning on his heel and pushing several students to the ground on his way out through the crowd. Avery and Rosier following behind him like ugly lap dogs. Severus gave me one more look, one that I was sure was trying to tell me something, something meaningful, before he too turned on his heel and strode off after his so called _friends_.

"Well that was quite eventful" Remus noted as he appeared from behind James, his face not even bothering to hide his relievement of not having to duel any more. It wasn't like he was bad at duelling or anything, but was just more of a lover than a fighter. Well not exactly lover per say, I had never really seen him with a girlfriend before, dates yes, actual girlfriend, no. But he definitely liked to avoid fighting unless absolutely necessary or provoked. Think he actually took his job as a prefect seriously, unlike James the Head Boy who looked absolutely gutted over not being able to fight anyone now.

"I was so looking forward to cursing their sorry behinds" he sighed as he and Lily came over also. Lily rubbing his back as he sulked in front of her. Her expression was not of sympathy however, but more of that of someone who was trying to bite their tongue. It was clear she felt just the same as me on this matter, if not more against it as she was extremely serious about being Head Girl and all the rules that came with it, but was trying her best not to say anything and just comfort James all the same. I thought it was rather sweet of her trying so hard to make James happy. A few months ago she would of just smacked him in the face and not held back at all on telling him exactly how much of a fool he was being, actually a few days a go she would of done that. "Why did you have to go and scare them away, eh Olivia?"

"Because she is a stubborn fool, that's why!" Sirius shouted behind me as he shook my hand off his wrist and turned his full anger upon me. "You protected that greasy arse from me hexing him! Why? What the hell has been going on with you two? What has he been doing to you?"

I shrunk under his towering frame not having a single clue as to what I was supposed to say in return. _What the hell was going on between us to?_ Now that was a question I myself would very much like to know. Sometimes we were almost on friendly terms with each other, others you could literally cut through the tension between us with a knife. Then there was times like these were looks where shared that even I wasn't fully aware of what they were even supposed to mean! I sighed heavily before I decided to answer him. "I don't have a single clue what-"

"What you are on about" Lexi finished for me as appeared at my side, her arm resting on my shoulder as a sign of comfort and support. Sirius looked taken aback at her words before narrowing his eyes suspiciously at me again. "He is her Potions partner and that's that. She just thought you where acting foolish provoking thugs like that over something that was technically none of your business. And I fully agree with her" Sirius' eyes were mad looking at this point. He looked to his friends for some help who stood just as baffled as he was on the matter. I looked up at Lexi giving her my '_thank you so much_' eyes before she quickly shot me one of her own, '_we need to talk_' looks. _Shit. Well I might of known as much that she wasn't just going to defend my stupidity and not give me a lecture over it later_. I frowned at the ground as I stood next to my tall regal friend like a chastised little girl.

"But Lexi-"

"I don't want to hear it" she calmly said as she put her hand out to silence him. "Mulciber and that lot may be bullies and had deliberately tried to start something in there, but you always have to rise to the bait. You always have to jump in as though you are acting all chivalrous when in fact you just can't wait to hex someone into a coma. I'm thoroughly sick of it! I'm sick of all the fighting!" she finally hissed before she stomped her knee high clad Mary Jane feet against the stone pavement and began marching off with me in tow.

"Wow! Where did all that come from?" I gaped in awe at Lexi before looking back at several confused faces behind us, Lily looking quite upset, no doubt over not opening her own mouth and joining us in our stand against the boys.

"Just don't start Olivia" she hissed down at me as she continued leading the way back to the castle. I flinched slightly from her harsh tone, not quite used to her being so sharp in all the seven years that I had known her. "We need to talk about what you did back there and your stupid silly obsession with that...that freak!"

_Okay. Well that was a little harsh_, I thought as I bit my tongue and reluctantly let myself be dragged back to the castle for no doubt one of the longest lectures I had ever been given by Lexi Kingsley, my usually nice and composed best friend. _I really do know how to dig myself into holes don't I?_

* * *

**A/N: Just a little end note to say if anyone wants to see how i imagine Olivia, Lexi and the rest of the stories characters to look like, theres a post in my blog with pictures. The link is at the bottom of my profile page. Would be nice to here you guys thoughts on how i perceive them! :D**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Humour and romance returning in full in the next few chapters. Possible even a kiss might be shared? Hmm, will just have to wait and see won't you! Haha :P Let me know what you guys think of Olivia btw. Too weird? Too unbelievable? Not Severus' type even? Reviews more than welcome! :D**

Chapter Eleven: Queen Of Apology

Classes. Just what I needed to be taking my mind of things. I usually wasn't one to be attending my early morning Transfiguration class, something that made McGonagall very angry and disappointed with me which led to many a lecture each Monday about my attendance the following day. This Tuesday morning however, I found myself skipping breakfast and heading straight for the ground floor classroom without so much as even batting an eyelid at anyone I passed. I had kept to myself the last few days, not really feeling like talking to anyone much after the earful I got from Lexi once we got back from Hogsmeade Saturday, then menacing glances I had gotten from Lily once she returned and joined us. The awful memory of their words burned my mind even now, two days later.

_**FLASHBACK**_

The castle was practically empty once we got back as it was still quite early and almost everyone from fourth year upwards was still in Hogsmeade and enjoying their freedom from School for the day. I on the other hand, was currently being dragged up to the Gryffindor common room for no doubt the longest rant I would ever have in my life. Once we had reached our dorm room, Lexi rounded on me only to prove my previous thought right.

The door slammed shut behind behind me which caused me to flinch sharply as the noise echoed around the thankfully empty room. "What the hell was that back there!" My friends usually pouty face was harsh and angry looking as she set her fiery sights on me, marching over towards me as she glared me down.

"What was what?" I asked nonchalantly, hoping for the best by playing coy. It had worked in the past with people, and I wasn't usually one for going against what got results.

She folded her long arms across her chest before she rolled her brown cat like eyes at me for full on effect. "Don't act stupid with me of all people Olivia. You know perfectly well what I'm going on about. You jumping in and going all heroine mode over Mr. Creepy chops!"

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes at her. "Like you wanted them to actual fight either Lexi!" I scoffed as I looked up at her, my eyes hard as my mind was determined not to waver from my failing argument. "Merlin, Lily even jumped in before me to try and stop them behaving like a pack of three year olds! That you going to blame her for trying to protect Severus as well?"

She took a threatening step towards me bringing us just within an inch from each other before she decided to speak again. Her tone scolding me like I was her daughter who had just been caught doing something I shouldn't have. Like fancying Slytherins for example. "Oh pluh-ease! We both know Lily only attempted to stop them so she didn't have to put them all in detention, which I am betting she will be seeing to it that Mulciber and his lot get at least a weeks worth once she gets back later today. I, on the other hand, just couldn't bear to watch anyone get hurt. And hurt they would most definitely get if them Slytherins where involved, Merlin knows what other gruesome spells that greasy boy has made up and shared with them lot. You know how much I dislike violence, and that's the only reason for my outburst earlier. Shame you can't say the same."

"You just didn't want to risk seeing Sirius get hurt is all, since you fancy the complete arse off him!" I hissed as my green slits never wavered from her burning brown ones. "As for the rest of them lot, you wouldn't give a rats ass if they got blown into next Tuesday! Besides, its not completely illegal to make spells up is it. We could all use with some more defensive spells at the moment with all that's going on out there, so don't act as though he is some sort of Devil or something silly like that. It's not like Sirius and that lot don't know anything dodgy is it?"

Her eyes narrowed considerably at my harsh words. To me, it was just the truth. _So what if Severus liked to dabble a little in the Dark Arts? Who wasn't curious about the stuff I ask?_ _No-one, exactly._ Even the bloody Hufflepuffs sighed in awe at a few spells we had heard about in Defence, it wasn't a crime to wonder at these things! Despite if their curiosity was firmly laced with fear while Severus was just that of pure awe. _That didn't make him some murderer did it?_ _No._ Precisely which was why Lexi's argument was nothing but pure guess work and hearsay.

"Don't even dare and try to put them on the same level as those damn right nasty Slytherins! They would never go out their way to go and hurt people the way that lot do. Look what Mulciber did to you today, he just strode over and smacked you to the ground for no damn reason. Who does that Olivia? Are these the sort of people you want to be associating with? Cause that's what will happen, you know that don't you? If you keep pursuing this absurd disturbing fantasy about you and...and Snape, then you will be leaving us and going to them" her voice lowered as did her gaze, her eyes becoming soft and sad all of a sudden as she uncrossed her arms to let them hang limp at her sides, "I don't want to see you get corrupted by them Olli, Merlin knows how easily it could be done with the stuff they have no doubt been getting up to. I...I don't want to see you hurt..."

I dropped my gaze to stare at the open bathroom door, not being able to look my hurt best friend in the eye any more. _How could I not feel guilty for making her worry so much about me?_ Not once did I ever stop to actually think that all those times she had been hinting at me about Severus' dodgy dealings, that she was actually worried about me getting caught up in things that were dangerous and over my head. I sunk into the bed that was behind me as I dropped my head into the palms of my hands, my guilt choosing to over power my ignorant side at the moment as I pushed down my argument of how the Marauder's were just as much bullies as them Slytherins, only less evil per say in their actions. "I'm sorry that you worry about me Lexi, I really am. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone, you know that right? I just can't help the way I feel about him. I know how much easier it would be if I had just picked a fellow Gryffindor, or maybe a Ravenclaw to have feelings for, heck even a Hufflepuff would be accepted by you guys, but I didn't. And I don't want to either. I'm...I'm sorry for earlier. I probably shouldn't of intervened I know, but I just couldn't help it!" I sighed heavily as I rested my head against my knees, my hands griping the hair on my head for dear life as I shook it about trying to make some sense of the jumble of words that were fighting to come out. The bed dipped next to me as Lexi sat beside me, her hand coming to rest on my back as she began rubbing it in comforting circular motions.

"I'm sorry too" she sighed, "For shouting that is. I didn't mean to upset you, but all this Severus business is just getting to me, and then there is Mulciber taking a sick fancy for me on top of it all. As much as I hate fighting, part of me wanted them to get their arses cursed today. Even if I was short with Sirius earlier about him wanting to do exactly that. God I am such a stubborn mule at times!"

I laughed faintly before I replied, my voice airy. "You're a stubborn mule? The main reason I decided to march out of that Inn today after Sirius and that was to go and hex Mulciber into the next century myself! If it wasn't for the fact that Severus was there, I would of well let them hex anyone they liked. Hell most probably would of joined them as Mulciber is definitely number one on my hit list after today," I paused for a moment, a serious expression crossing my face as my voice became distant and sober, "but when Sirius went to hex Severus, I just couldn't help myself. No matter how questionable Severus' lifestyle may be, I would never forgive myself if I had just stood back and let the person that I love get humiliated or hurt in public" I instantly bit my tongue. _What the hell did I just say? Oh for Merlin sakes, I'm officially doomed and heading for Hell..._

"What did you just say there?" Lexi's confused tones cut through me as her hand froze on my back, her body tensing besides mine almost instantaneously.

"I-I...uhm...well you-"

"I knew you two would be holed up in here!" Lily's voice called as the room door burst open causing my head to shoot up from my lap only to be met with the stern and suspicious glare of Lily Evans. "Now, what the hell is going on that I don't know about. Spill it! I can tell you two are hiding something and I want to know what it is"

If her timing was any more perfect, she would of barged in precisely two whole minutes earlier to hear my surprising confession first hand. Now, that would of only of made the situation slightly more uncomfortable however, as it currently was bellow three hundred degrees in here already, and the atmosphere was so thick and tense that I was surprised there was any actual air to even breath with! I was sitting totally shocked by my own unintended confession, while Lexi seemed to be just as shocked and dumbfounded as me, as she neither opened her mouth in reply nor moved from her frozen position either.

"Well? What was all that about back there then?" Lily pushed as she fully came into the room and stood before us, her hands on the hips of her beige flared jumpsuit. "I may have been on your sides about not causing a seen or wanting to see people get hurt, but your little display of heroics was a bit uncalled for Olivia, don't you think? And you Lexi, where did all that ranting come from? Sirius is in a right tizz over it" My eyes twitched slightly as she began tapping her foot, her eyes darting between mines and Lexi's as she crossed her arms in a serious manner. "Well! Someone better start saying something soon, as James and that are on their way up here as we speak for some explanations of their own, and trust me, they won't be taking silence as an acceptable answer"

That was enough for me that statement. I sprung to my feet and fled from the room without so much as a glance at my two friends as I just left them behind, confused and dazed by it all. _What the hell have I caused!_ I panicked as I speed walked down the stairs, my mind racing through any possible solution that might get me out of this current situation. _What was I going to say to them?_ Sirius was definitely on my tail about what was going on. There was no way his suspicions were going to just be dropped with me telling him I had just reacted irrationally and that was that. Then there was Lexi. He would no doubt be wanting to apologise to her and ask her about her little outburst also, which after my recent proclamation to her over my true feelings for Severus, their was no way to be sure that she wouldn't share these feelings with him, or anyone else for that matter. I gulped as I reached the portrait hole, it opening just as I reached it bringing with it even more problems.

"There you are Olivia, we have been looking for-" James began. Sirius, Remus and Peter all looking at me with strange expressions before I pushed past them all one by one, and tried to make an attempt at my freedom while I still could. "HEY! Where the hell are you going?"

"Olivia! Olivia!" Sirius called as he tried to reach out for my sleeve, but luckily missed. I was fully out of the portrait hole now and flat out running down the seventh floor corridor to Merlin knows where. "Olivia! Where are you running off to!"

**FLASHBACK**

I could literally feel my insides squirming at the mere recollection of it. Fair to say, I had become quite successful in dodging people since then. Mostly it was only really Sirius who I needed to be dodging as Lily had better things to concentrate on, like arguing then making up with James five or six times a day while studying like six hundred hours a week on top of that, while everyone else just simply didn't have nearly as much of a suspicious mind or care enough about what the hell went through my crazy mind to bring anything up to me about my behaviour Saturday. Lexi on the other hand, hadn't spoken to me for two days. It wasn't like her to be so quiet around me and I think people were beginning to notice that it was more than just a silly argument between us. It was obvious to me that she was still in shock over my revelation about Severus. She was most likely just humouring me thinking it was just another phase of mine up until then, as my oh my did I have many a phase when it came to crazy things. I shook my head at the crazy memories as I walked into the classroom more than ten minutes early.

"Miss White. How lovely of you to actually join us for once, and early to" McGonagall's sharp tones pierced my ears as I glanced over the tables wearily, unsure exactly where to sit as Lexi had taken to sitting with Alice Brown recently in the classes we shared, Alice being the fourth seventh year Gryffindor who shared the room with Lexi, Lily and I although was hardly ever present in it as she was always off somewhere or another with her boyfriend Frank who both just so happened to take this class. "I assume you haven't forgotten where you sit"

I rolled my eyes at her sarcastic greeting before choosing a seat up the back at one of the desks I faintly recalled that no-one usually sat at. McGonagall's eyes were on me the whole time and I couldn't resist the urge to meet her gaze after I had sorted through my bag for my practically unused Transfiguration book. She raised one of her highly arched eyebrows at me from the front of the class before abandoning her work and walking towards me. _Oh joy! Yet another person wanting to interrogate me no doubt. _

"Olivia, are you feeling well?" Her kind tones caught me off guard as I looked up at her slightly frowning wrinkled face in utter confusion._ McGonagall, the strictest Professor in the school and my worst hater was actually being nice to me?_ _I must definitely be still dreaming_. I pinched my leg under the table on to feel a sharp jab of pain erupt from the same spot a second later. _I take it back, she must just be high of catnip instead_. "As your head of house it hasn't escaped my notice that you have missed breakfast two days running and seem to be distant from your friends also as of late. Normally I would suggest that these things will all just blow over soon and encourage my students to get along, but I have to say in your case, considering your presence here now and on time for that matter, I would say its most likely for the best that you have broken ties with the boys in your group. They are not exactly the best company for young ladies such as yourself to be around" I resisted the urge to scoff at her polite way of telling me that the Marauders were bad influences, as well as lady killers. Well Sirius anyway. Typical of her to blame the boys, as usual and thinking that all us girls where fragile little harps that were so easily corrupted by testosterone. "Now, whatever has come between you, Miss Kingsley and Miss Evans however, I am sure you will patch up soon enough. Its not the end of the world and things will be back to normal before you know it. So I suggest you cheer up before you give yourself frown lines" she shot me a small rare smile that I reluctantly returned before she strode off towards the front of the class again just as the bell rang signalling there was five minutes until class began.

I mentally told myself that this was definitely the last time I was coming to Transfiguration early ever again. The last thing I needed was more '_motherly_' advice from my ageing Professor about the trials and tribulations of friendship and life. The next thing I know she will be giving me love advice and that was certainly a conversation I wanted to avoid at all costs. Even the prospect of thinking that she could actually procreate was making me want to hurl all over the desk in front of me. Thinking of Professor McGonagall that way was surely illegal, or else it should be. I shrugged off a violent shiver just as students started to pile into the room, taking their preferred seats as the class began.

A number of familiar faces stared at me as they walked past my desk, but none so much as Lexi, Sirius and strangely enough Severus, who I found strange to even be in this class as it was so open and bright that it just didn't suit him at all. I refused to catch any of their eyes though as I wasn't in the mood for confrontation today, well this morning anyways. I toyed with the idea of possibly confronting them later today and calling their bluff in hopes to fix this whole mess, as I didn't feel like myself at all with being so quiet and solitude. It just wasn't sitting well with me and I know I would just have to face up to reality soon enough if I ever wanted to change that fact. Reality being something I never had really liked though, which was always was my stumbling block.

"Today we will be discussing Animagus forms, and the taxing tests you would need to endure to become one" McGonagall addressed the class before she magically started chalking things up on the board. I chanced a glance in the direction I saw Severus head in and was caught off guard by him still staring at me. The shock on my face must of upset him somehow, as he turned away as sharply as I had turned to him, leaving my eyes to linger on the back of his shiny shoulder length hair. I wanted to apologize to him for stopping Mulciber from hexing my ass the other day, but felt like he was doing what I had been doing to my friends, and avoiding me. He was strangely absent in Potions yesterday morning, Slughorn stating that he had been giving permission to be excused for some reason or another, and every time I had spotted him in the hallways since then, he seemed to disappear from my sight before I could even contemplate making my way over and thanking him. A small paper plane hit my head just then, bringing me out of my staring mode and back to reality. I glared down at the folded parchment and shot it the evils as though it had bewitched itself to fly over and hit me. I grumbled to myself as I tentatively opened it.

_Please can we stop not speaking and be friends again? Lily is doing my head in with James and dare I say it, Sirius is too from his need to quiz me on why we aren't talking like five hundred times a day. My shock has now officially worn off and my ability to speak has returned to me. So please, please lets just forget about all this and get back to normal before I end up transfiguring myself into a lion and murdering Sirius._

_Your ever patient friend,_

_Lexi_

I re-read it twice just to confirm that Lexi had indeed written to me. I bit my lip as a low laugh escaped my lips from the sheer craziness of her hastily written note. I glanced over at where she was sitting to see Sirius sitting next to her instead of Alice, who was sitting next to them with Frank, as he talked animatedly into her ear. Her face glaring at the wooden table intently as though she was seriously considering slapping her head, or possibly his, off the chestnut desk. I immediately inked my quill and began my reply. My face considerably brighter than it had been before.

_I shall consider your proposition thoroughly, but have to admit that the idea of watching said scenario play out is just way to tempting so shall have to debate. Will give you my answer at lunch, have potions next and can't be late. As usual!_

_Your sane and reasonable friend,_

_Olivia_

_PS. Sirius is afraid of cats._

* * *

**Severus' POV**

Today was the day I knew I had to face her. I had to either admit to the strange feelings in the stomach that were telling me to talk to her, apologise for the rudeness to her the other week, or tell her where to go once and for all and change partners in Potions. I looked around the empty classroom and immediately knew that no-one was good enough for me in this class and that changing partners now might only result in me being stuck with some snotty nosed imbecile who didn't know their herda roots from their bat tongues. I sighed heavily at the reality that I was stuck with Olivia White until graduation and most definitely didn't want to drive another female into hating my guts when the majority already did. I could literally hear my mothers hardened tones of disapproval already.

"Oh, I'm early..." a soft voice spoke as the classroom door behind me swung open. I involuntary tensed as the owner began walking towards me. "Wow!"

I buried myself in my satchel as I looked for something to entertain me for a few more minutes until Slughorn came in along with everyone else and started the class. I could literally feel the strong barrier that was between me and the female next to me who had just taken her seat. It was a strange sensation as although I had only started being in extreme close proximity with Olivia only two months ago, I had never once felt uncomfortable in the way I did now. I had felt flustered many times in her presence yes, but never had the feeling of dread and unspoken confrontation hang over us like it did now. I found myself shifting uncomfortably as these thoughts plagued my mind.

"Severus I-"

"Don't" I cut her off in my most severe tone in hopes that she would give up all hopes of trying to talk to me during this class. For once in my life, I cursed Madam Pomfrey for not fussing over me enough and demanding I stay until the end of the week at least. Even if a black eye and broken nose only took an hour to mend.

"Shush" She calmly said as she placed a small shaking hand onto my shoulder causing every muscle in my arm to tighten up so hard I could literally feel them burning. "Please just let me say this one thing and then I won't speak to you, ever-ever again" she stuttered out sadly as her hand dropped away from my arm, leaving the place where it had touched hot and tingling. Somehow her choice of words stung at my chest. _Would she really never speak to me again?_ It was strange, but I couldn't imagine a world where Olivia White didn't frustrate me daily with her illicit stories and explicit language, it had been almost a week now since I had last properly spoken to her and it had honestly not been the best of weeks for me. It had been near torturous if I was to be fully honest.

I turned to face her, suddenly very intrigued to what she had to say. Her head was dipped to face her lap as her hands fidgeted annoyingly at the hem of her shorter than necessary skirt. "I just want to say thank you for stopping Mulciber from cursing me Saturday, and I am sorry for butting in on an opportunity for you to hex Sirius and James" She rushed out, her eyes not leaving her industrious hands as she spoke. "I know how much you all love to torment each other"

I furrowed my brow, not fully being able to take in her apology. I had not expected her to actually apologise to me for not letting me fight her idiotic friends, that was something I assumed she would feel the opposite about. _Was that not the reason she had stepped in on the first place?_ I looked over the strange beauty in front of me to suddenly see her looking at me, her head tipped to the side as though she too was confused. Her eyes widened suddenly as she looked embarrassed.

"Merlin please don't tell me that you hate people saying thanks to you as well as everything else" her hands suddenly snapped up to cover her face as several students appeared in the room, most of them looking over at us sceptically no doubt wondering what we were talking about. "All I wanted to do was say thanks for the whole Mulciber thing and hope that maybe you weren't too angry over not being able to get revenge on the Marauder's for being horrid to you and that maybe you wouldn't totally hate me and that we could still-"

I calmly clasped my hand over her ranting mouth as her eyes bulged once again at me like oversized emeralds. "If you would just stop talking for a moment you would be able to find out that I don't hate you either" I hesitated for a moment before adding, "Not entirely anyway" as a precaution.

Her eyes smiled at me as she pulled my hand from her face to reveal her large and contagious smile. The one that only a few days ago I was questioning if I would ever see again. I failed to hold my stoic expression as a small smile tainted my lips causing the female across from me to smile even wider, a feat that I didn't think was possible. "Does that mean we can be friends again then?"

I nodded in reply not fully trusting myself to speak as Slughorns deep voice addressed the class at the front. I hadn't even noticed him, nor the rest of the students coming in and taking their positions in the now full classroom. I eyed my potions partner who was now looking a cross between elated and nervous as she fiddled through her bag for her things. _How could this clumsy sprite of a Gryffindor cause me to loose control of my senses?_ I furrowed deeply as the exhilarating aroma of Olivia infiltrated my sense of smell and my intense gaze was mesmerised by her simple and energetic movements. _She will certainly be the end of me_, I thought as the full realisation of just how much of a hold she had over me hit me. The realisation that she could ask me almost anything with one of her charming smiles and I would not be able to say no made me extremely nervous.

**Olivia's POV**

_Just do it. Just ask him now while he is off guard_, I urged myself as I debated whether or not to disturb Severus with yet another one of my annoying questions. I just couldn't let him accept my apology and let that be that, definitely not after my confession of love for him to Lexi and that fact that he smiled. _Actually SMILED at me just now! I've been scowled, frowned, snarled, smirked and even laughed at by him, but smiled? Hell no!_ He never smiles. NEVER! I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks as well as the word vomit rising in my throat. _Merlin, this will not be good..._

"Will you tutor me in this?" I almost shouted as I gestured to the book on my lap. I saw his cheeks flush slightly as he looked bewildered at me before I finally realised I had just indicated to my crotch and bare thighs, my book was sprawled out on the floor at my feet. _Oh great, he now thinks I am a total pervert!_ "I mean this class, Potions" I laughed out nervously as I picked my book up from the floor, banging my head on the table as I sat back up. _Oh my, I'm one of those nervous wreck kinda girls. Why the hell haven't I noticed this before?_ I noticed how his expression was still that of utter confusion, as I also managed to catch Slughorns overweight frame walking towards me with a large frown on his face. _I need to save myself and fast!_ I thought as I rambled some more to an almost stunned Severus. "I could just do with some help is all, be as good as you and maybe not drag our combined grade down? It would benefit both of us really, if you think about it"

I looked expectantly at him as I felt the presence of the oversized Potions Professor at my back. His disappointment almost radiating from him and directly aimed at me. _I can feel me missing the dance at this rate_. I honestly didn't know whether to sigh in happiness or anger if that happened. However, Severus nodded a sharp yes to my absurd question before busying himself with his potions book, seconds before Slughorn decided to speak and ruin the already strained moment.

"You may have been early today Miss White, but talking during class is forbidden" he sighed heavily before he spoke again. The whole class sniggering to themselves as to them, mostly Slytherins, a Gryffindor like myself getting a lecture from their head of house was most likely the highlight of their day. "Detention Sunday evening. Be thankful that I'm letting you go to the dance Saturday instead of assigning detention then" I ducked my head in reluctant agreement. _Maybe it would be best if I had been given an excuse to miss it_. Beats turning up dateless looking like a complete fool. I knew Slughorn was only doing himself a favour however as he adored parties . "Next time though, it will be a discussion with Professor Dumbledore" He gave me one of his strained glares before bounding back off to the front of the class and talking as though nothing had happened. I glanced at Severus next to me to see him also acting as though nothing had transpired between us. A small bit of me found his ability to shrug off emotions hurtful, as though I rarely took it to heart as it was part of his charm, the idea that he was also shrugging me off as a person toyed in my mind at times. I firmly shook the absurd idea from my mind and focussed on another one, a much happier one. The reminder that the dreamboat next to me had just agreed to tutor me, which was step one in my plan of seduction. Yes, even after all that had happened I found that I just couldn't stay away from him. Knowing that I felt much more for him than just friends, I had to patch things up with him in hopes to continue ogling at him in future. _And possibly even more?_ Merlin, it would be just me and him, alone, in one of these dungeon classrooms soon with nothing but a cauldron and a potions book between us._ You could lock me down here any day if he was going to be present! Now, what the hell do I tell Lexi at lunch about all this..._

"I hope you are paying attention Miss White as you will be getting quizzed on this tomorrow" Slughorn called over to me causing me to snap my head up in shock, almost breaking my neck in the process. _Oh shit!_ Were the last words to cross my mind before I frantically started grabbing for my quill. _More worries to add to my already growing pile. Wonderful!_

* * *

"Boo!"

"Ahhh!" I screamed as I almost fell down the stairs leading down to the dungeons, my minuscule pile of books crashing to the floor with a thud. I clasped my heart in desperation as I clung onto a suit of armour, who was looking down at me rather seductively I might add, for dear life. "What the freaking hell was that for!"

Girly giggles drummed my eardrums causing me to scowl even more at the approaching blonde. "I can't believe you fell for that, seriously I can't!" She continued laughing airily, several of my Potions classmates staring at us like freaks of nature as they pushed past us and towards the Great Hall for lunch. My eyes darkened at her as I began marching off behind them. "Oh okay, probably wasn't the best of ideas. Sorry" she smirked at me as she easily caught up with my chihuahua legs.

"What are you doing hanging about here anyway?" I asked, my own face much brighter than a moment ago.

"Waiting on you finishing Potions of course" she smiled sweetly at me before gazing about for a good seat at the Gryffindor table, "Divination finished early after Professor Cain had a inkling that there would be a fire in the classroom. Turned out he only burned his foot with the urn for the tea leaves. Fascinating how he knew something bad was going to happen though, isn't it?"

I made some form of barely audible sound before choosing a seat which faced the Slytherin table and was next to some gossiping six years, who eyed us both over condescendingly before shifting away slightly when we sat down. _How rude can you possibly get? I swear some of these snotty girls were more crude than the Slytherins!_ _Well, sorta. In a moral sort of way at least. _I eyed the array of tasty lunchtime delights over before choosing a cheese sandwich and large bowl of spaghetti bolognese. _Well, I have to make up for not eating much the last few days from skipping meals didn't I?_ My stomach basically roared when the drool worthy aroma hit my nostrils._ Hmm..._

"Anyway," Lexi drawled out as she eyed my food choice over critically before pulling a small bowl of avocado salad over towards herself. _How she wasn't somehow related to rabbits was a wonder to me. She did nothing but nibble on lettuce constantly!_ I felt the teeniest bit of guilt wash over at scoffing a meal that could easily feed two people, before shrugging it off and not caring. _If I put on a few pounds, it will surely just counteract the stone I had lost since Saturday. Well, more like just half a pound, but so! _Lexi coughed loudly next to me,"As I was saying. Anyway, I'm sorry for moaning and whatnot about, you know what" she whispered down at me, causing me to gaze over at the Slytherin table to see Severus sitting by himself and not eating. Lexi sighed heavily next to me before continuing, "You know what, lets just pretend Saturday never happened and move on yeah? Just forget about everything that was said and never bring it up again. Slytherins don't exist to us any more, none of them!"

I quickly drew my eyes away from the alluring boy across the room and turned to see my best friend smiling nervously at me. She was obviously waiting on my nod of approval before allowing herself to relax around me again. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't the first argument me and her had ever had, actually we have many a barny at each other since first year. But this was the first one that was over more than just silly mundane things, and it was over something that could possibly tear us apart as friends. I smiled brightly at her, even if it was a tad forced before nodding my head yes.

She smiled a bright cat like grin before going back to eating like nothing had happened. I noticed she was the second person to be able to fall back into a routine again without so much as a bat of their eye lid, while I on the other hand was left reeling with a thousand questions. I put my uneasiness down to my choice of backstabbing my friends by still choosing to hang about with Severus even after all the trouble it had caused. I listened to her chatter on and on about this and that, mostly Sirius Black related things I might add, before it suddenly hit me. I couldn't tell her or anyone that I had apologised to Severus. It was clear she wanted to forget he ever existed and assumed that I was willing to do so too, but I couldn't. I wouldn't. I sighed heavily as the full impact of me trying to keep my feelings to myself from now on hit me. It seems that I clearly don't think through any of my plans at all. _What the hell was I going to tell them when they ask where I am sneaking off to tomorrow afternoon?_ I resisted the urge to slap my head off the table in front of me as my mind ran blank with ideas. _If only I was just attracted to pompous Gryffindors my troubles would all be fixed..._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Love Is In The Air

"Stop staring" I reprimanded the boy next to me as I read my favourite book on the comfiest chair in the Gryffindor common room, my legs sprawled over one arm lazily as I flipped at the worn pages on my lap with the other. It had taken me two hours to get this spot, and I hadn't got over the almost cat fight with a certain fifth year called Nancy over it either. _Seriously, who hisses at people in public beside actual cats? Crazy woman!_ I felt the ever familiar intensity of someone glaring at my back again as I realised he was still staring. "You are so annoying!" I shot out before I turned in my seat to stare at the sulking boy beside me, a flock of girls surrounding him trying to get his attention but sadly failing. They shot me furrowed looks for no doubt raising my voice at Prince Charming before being rudely swatted off by the ever charming man himself. "I've told you I am not talking about anything to do with what happened last weekend with you so you can either choose to act normally and talk about something else, or continue to sit there sulking and glaring at me like a little ten year old boy. Your choice!"

I heard several girls moaning and grumbling about something or another before a shadow loomed over me, ruining my perfect lighting. _Why dear Lord does he need to be so persistent!_ "I know you are hiding something and I will not stop until I find out what it is" his hands were gripping the armrests of my chair as he casually leaned into me, his intense gaze hidden by his unruly hair as his mouth was tight and serious with every word that he spoke. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as he let his words sink in for a moment before continuing again, "Just letting you know that sooner or later I _will_ find up what's been happening between you two, whether you decide to personally tell me or not, and _Snapey_ would be better evacuating the country when I do" I felt myself shiver as I peered up at him from under my fringe, my hands now toying with my closed book as the nerves took over me. _What is he going to say when he does find out? _Then it hit me, _why should I even care! I mean he has slept with Slytherins before so why cant I? Seriously who makes these rules up anyway! Hypocrite,_ I mentally scowled just as a smirk graced Sirius' face and he stood up, casual and aloof like he hadn't just basically threatened to uncover my deepest darkest secret a moment ago. "So, what you going as for Halloween then?"

I blinked a few times at him before I sat up straighter in my seat, paranoia looming over me as my mind raced with all sorts of ideas why Sirius Black was now acting casual and humorous around me after almost four days worth of trying to corner me and question me to death. Something was up that was for sure. _He definitely has a plan_ I thought as I gazed over at the boy in question who was now lounging on his original position of the couch and reading some female magazine. _Where the hell did that come from?_ I shook the thought from my head as I concluded I shouldn't kick a gift horse in the mouth and decided to reply to the much calmer and cheerful Sirius. "You will just have to wait and see Saturday I am afraid"

"Well that isn't very fair at all is it?" he smirked over at me before going back to reading his magazine again. _Please do not tell me he is looking for inspiration in there! I swear, if Sirius Black turns up Saturday in drag I'm checking him into St. Mungo's personally._ I eyed him suspiciously as the image of him wearing James mothers dress burned my mind. _Why did I have to choose that day of all days to go visit them I don't know! I'm now forever scarred for life._ "Don't expect me to tell you what I'm going as either then. Although who I am going with might come as a slight surprise"

I cocked my head to the side thoroughly confused. "Are you not going with Lexi?"

"I was, but she told me yesterday that she is now going with you so I've had to make other arrangements, re-match my costume etc"

I narrowed my eyes sceptically at his response. _So I might of missed a few days worth of romance between my two friends, but I was more than positive that they had been bonking. Dating? Hmm, probably not this soon. But sexing up the five hundred or so broom cupboards of Hogwarts? Definitely. If Lexi's numerous late night dishevelled appearances where anything to go by then they had been at it at least four nights in the last week._ "Who are you taking then?" I found myself asking, my attention now fully on the conversation as I put my copy of H.P Lovecraft's Horror In the Museum down on the side table next to me. I had the gut sinking feeling of being a fish lured in by bait but my curiosity over Sirius' love life was just to overwhelming.

"Hmm, haven't decided yet" He said offhandedly as he waved his right hand in the air slightly to show just how much he didn't care before he looked at me once more. His gaze sharp and penetrating. "Do you have a date for Saturday Olivia, minus Lexi that is?"

I furrowed my brow at him. _Just how stupid did he think I was! _It was as clear as day he just wanted to see who I was going with so he could hex their arse into next week. Like what all the Marauders loved to do to any boy in Hogwarts that so much as glanced at Lexi, Lily or I for more than two seconds. Apparently we were all to remain celibate while them lot pranced about with a slew of girls at their feet. _As that was fair!_ I locked his dark brooding gaze with my green one before speaking. "You shall just have to wait and see like my outfit, wont you" I smiled devilishly at him. It wasn't like I actually had a date to hide, but I would be dumber than Peter if I decided to share this with him.

He barked with laughter. "Hiding him from public consumption are we? Can't be that bad surely!" I threw the pillow that was behind me at his unflinching head, missing by a mile as I sucked at anything remotely athletic. I hissed at my bad aim before crossing my arms and shooting him a sulking glare. _How dare he poke fun at my imaginary date! For all he knows it could be someone hotter than him._ I sighed as I realised that the prospect of that being true was a hundred to one. The only person hotter than him at this school was the one person I seemed to be forbidden to even mention his name in public any more. "I see your aim has improved. Your almost good enough to try out for Hufflepuff chaser now!"

I growled to myself as I restrained the need to march over and smack that annoying smirk off his handsome face. "I might of known any conversation with you would just annoy me. I beg you to go back to your sulky staring. It was quieter that way and less obtrusive"

He chucked the copy of Witch Weekly onto the floor before sitting up, his hands resting on his knees as he spoke. "If only you just told me what was up with you and Snape then I would be much less annoying, maybe even hospitable even?" He hummed to himself as he began checking his nails. _Such an annoying feminine male! How half, if not more, of the female population thought he was irresistible sometimes was beyond me. He was annoying, slutty, big headed and possibly even a touch gay. _I glanced at his baby blue sparkling nails_. Yup, definitely in touch with his feminine side a tad too much._

"There is absolutely nothing going on!" I hissed out as I stood up from my seat, my face hot and flustered as I thought of what I was going to say next. He eyed me expectantly, as though hoping I was going to open a can of worms containing what, I didn't know. _Surely he didn't know that I was __totally besotted with Severus?_ I glanced at my friend nervously for a moment before shaking my head. _No, he would never ever think that. That would surely be the last thing on his mind._

"No need to get all defensive!" He smiled at me as he raised his hands up in a defensive manner. "Well, not unless you have something to hide that is" The smile dropped from his face as he stood up and walked towards me, his expression suddenly serious. I decided to cut him off however before it turned into another interrogation from him.

"I would love to sit and chat but I have things to do and places to be. Sorry" His face changed from serious to curious as I stood up and began packing away my book into my fully packed satchel. I wanted to be prepared tonight for anything so needless to say, my shoulders would be scarred for life by the weight of everything from my personal potions stock to perfume and a push up bra. Just in case I needed some extra wow power at some point tonight.

"Where are you going?"

"Ehm... for a walk!" I exclaimed as it was the first lame excuse to cross my mind. Seriously, I need to pluck up my lying abilities if I was ever hoping to keep sneaking off like this. At this rate I will be found out before I've even made it out the portrait hole!

"Not-not outside I hope!" The tall dark haired boy began rambling as he caught my wrist and spun me around to face him just as he lowered his voice. "You can't go outside tonight Olivia"

I raised my right eyebrow in a questioning manner. _Was it my imagination of was Mr Cool and collected himself, rambling and stuttering? Hmm, seems I'm not the only one hiding things around here._ "And why can't I go outside tonight? What if I wanted to take a stroll around the lake, hmm? I mean, there is still an hour or two until curfew, so I can go outside if I-"

"You just ehm...cant that's all" he cut me off as he looked slightly nervous and unsure about something. My interest was more than piqued at this. _What in the world had him so on edge?_ At first I thought he was sneaking off to be with Lexi but she would of told me inadvertently by now as she couldn't lie to save herself, then another female student crossed my mind but I scrubbed that as well as I hadn't seen him with anyone in months. So now I was left to assume he was doing something forbidden and illegal and probably dangerous tonight outside the castle. I swear If I didn't have to go meet Severus in the dungeons tonight, I would have well been following him to catch him in the act.

I smirked as I began slowly walking circles around him, keeping my eyes on his at all times as he moved to keep up with me. "Hiding things from me are we Mr Black?" I casually said as his face never left mine. "Well, looks like the tables have turned" I poked him squarely in the chest as my eyes slitted slightly before I continued. "I won't ask you what you are up to tonight or ever again, if you don't ask me where I am going tonight or question me about a certain person ever again. Deal?"

He eyed me critically as though hesitant to reply. I knew Sirius well enough that for him to make an agreement like this and actually stick to it would be something of a miracle. His nosiness and intrigue over things that people deliberately kept hidden from him was sky high. I had never known someone to push and push for answers as much as he does. It was slightly intimidating. I was being realistic though when I had suggested this bargain, I knew it would keep him in line for most likely only tonight which was all I was really caring about at the moment. I never was one to think ahead.

"Deal" he solemnly said as though I had just told him he could never look at another female again. "But..." _Oh Merlin I knew there would be a but! There always one when you bargain with him._ I crossed my arms as I sighed wearily before he continued. "You have to promise to not go outside tonight, you Lexi and Lily"

"Lexi and Lily? What the hell are you-?"

"Promise?" He interrupted me as we continued to stare each other down. From an outside view this no doubt looked like we where in some sort of romantic deep conversation as we were extremely close to each other and talking in whispers. Although, one look at either of our faces and you would see that this was anything but romantic.

"Pfft fine! I promise" I huffed out just as I got a glimpse of my watch which read eight o'clock. "Shit! I need to go!" Sirius pulled an expression that clearly stated that it was killing him not to ask where exactly I was going, but kept his lips shut all the same. I all but ran from our spot at the couch to the portrait hole, knowing that Severus wouldn't wait long since I was now officially late._ I wanted to stroll in all calm and seductive to, looks like that plan is now officially out the window._

"Hope you have fun tonight Olivia!" Sirius called behind me his face searching for any hint of a reaction to what I was doing. This caused me to pause at the common room exit and shoot him a devilish smile. _Oh, I shall have fun tonight. Sweaty and late or not, I will be going ahead with my plan to seduce my smirky Slytherin hottie._

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

I had been waiting outside the potions classroom now for almost fifteen minutes. I was ten minutes earlier than had been arranged, but still, she was five minutes late. As usual. Maybe I should bewitch her muggle watch to sound an ear deafening alarm a good half hour before our meetings from now on, just to assure her prompt arrival in the future. Crossing my arms across my chest to stop myself from fidgeting, a habit I tried my best to avoid as I disliked being idle for even a short period of time, I leaned casually against the cool stone walls and silently prayed that she would be here soon. _Why had I even agreed to this madness anyway? _Olivia was more than capable in potions yet here I was, waiting on her to arrive so we could start our first tutoring session. _Tutoring session?_ _Just what was I to tutor her on exactly?_ Now, I am not stating that she has anywhere near the intellect that I have when it comes to potion brewing and such, but she gets 'outstanding' in almost every one of her essays, and that's even with them being shorter than required sometimes, and spending next to no time studying. I just couldn't seem to say no to her yesterday when she had asked. Something in her voice, her eyes when she looked at me made my mind draw a blank as the words filtered through my head and I found myself nodding yes before I had even known what was happening. It was like in detention the other week when she was pressed up against me. I had felt myself stuttering and sweating, and shameful to say, but more than a little aroused. I didn't like this strange power she seemed to have over me, it was unnerving and uncomfortable to say the least. I needed to distance myself from her, not agreeing to be alone with her for hours at a time instead.

"Hey, sorry I am late" a breathless voice apologised as it approached me. I looked up from my daze just in time to see a delightful image of Olivia bounding towards me, her shorter than necessary school skirt swinging from side to side and revealing a flash of bright pink lace as it did so. _Much more tasteful than the last pair of underwear had I seen her wear_ I thought as I smirked at the memory before mentally scolding myself for staring at her perfectly shaped alabaster legs in the first place. _Damn these teenage hormones! _"I know what you are going to say, and I perfectly understand. I'm always late, I know! But hear me out this time I swear, I was in my, ehm...dorm looking for a-a...a book! I heard you mention it briefly the other week and I remembered that my parents had sent it to me a while back and I haven't even read it, so I thought you might like it? You know, as a thank you, for, ehm saying yes to tutoring me and-and things?"

She smiled sweetly at me as she wiped a few droplets of sweat from her brow, her shirt lifting up ever so slightly as she did so revealing a flatish tummy with curving sides. I found I couldn't take my eyes away from her exposed midriff until my eyes caught a glimpse of something silver and sparkly. _Was her belly button pierced?_ I gulped somewhat unnecessary as I realised it was. _Why can't I stop staring at her?_ It had been this way since last week. I constantly felt my eyes roaming over places I knew they shouldn't be roaming on a Gryffindor, or over anyone for that matter. Then the realisation of her question hit me. _She had brought me a book?_ I quickly shot my darkened gaze to her face again and noticed that she was holding a very worn copy of Yalets Book Of Herbs and Plants_. Did she not just say that she had never read it before? It looked pretty wear worn to me. _But for once I pushed my intrigue back bellow and focussed on the fact that someone actually found it acceptable to get me a gift. I took it wearily from her outstretched hand, half expecting it to be jinxed. No doubt one of Potter and Co's cunning plans that she, being their female counterpart, had been told to deliver which would no doubt explode or something just as immature so that I was embarrassed and covered in itching powder. Or something of that nature anyway.

"Its not gonna bite you know" she giggled as she clasped her now free hands together, "Well I might if you don't say thanks, but that's a totally different matter"

I gulped at the smirk on her face, it looked somewhere between playful and...and lustful? _Surely not! Why would she be looking at me like that?_ But before I could even do as much as compose myself, it was gone and she was pushing past me into the unused potions classroom at the very bottom of the dungeons.

"So what's the plan Captain?" she called as I made my way into the room and closed the door behind me, turning just in time to see her salute me. _She does the strangest of things..._ "What we working on today then, _Professor?_" She drew out the word Professor, purring the first 'r' in it like a cat. _Is she feeling alright?_ I thought as I scanned her grinning face over with calculating eyes.

I decided to ignore her strange behaviour however as drawing attention to it would only cause more conversation, which in turn would draw out this private lesson to Merlin knows when. "Amortentia" I simply said as I sat at one of the three desks in the room, swiping away at the dust on top as I did so.

"A love potion?" she asked before she sat down next to me, right next to me I might add. So close I could literally smell the distinct, yet faint strawberry tainted fumes off her. I shifted away from her slightly in hopes of clearing my mind from all the...distraction she was currently causing me. Who knew that someone could smell so...so seductive. _Seductive?_ I pushed my talking hormones down, crossing my legs uncomfortably as I tried desperately to battle with the slight bulge in my pants. "Ooh, when do we start then? What made you pick that eh? Hoping to snag someone at the dance Saturday are we?" She giggled childishly as her green orbs lit up mischievously. "You know that's forbidden"

I turned to her sharply. "I can assure you it is not for my personal use, and nor shall it be used for yours either"

She rolled her eyes at me as she clucked her tongue, an action that was almost her trademark as she did it that often. I somehow didn't find it too annoying, unlike most others who did similar things. "Well soh-ray! Was just saying, besides I doubt either one of us will need a love potion Saturday as I think we are just as charming as we are" she smiled at me before continuing, "You being more charming than me that is"

It was my turn to roll my eyes at her now. Do doubt she had a date with Black or someone else just as obnoxious from her house already. They were all over each other the end of last year if I remembered correctly, eating each other faces off at any viable opportunity. Then there was how she acted with him Saturday. Protecting him and standing between us both when I had the perfect opportunity to curse his legs off. The thought alone caused me to grimace which unfortunately didn't go unnoticed by Olivia's ever watchful gaze.

"Sorry, I can be quite sarcastic at times. I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I always say the wrong thing, sorry! If you don't have a date, we can g-"

"You couldn't offend me even if you wanted to _White_, and besides I do have a date for the dance. Maybe it should be yourself that you should be more concerned about in the future" I snapped at her before I began busying myself with the many potions books in my bag, prolonging finding the right one until I was sure her eyes weren't on me any more. _Why did I just have to go and lie?_ _This girl is so infuriating!_ _First she gets me to act like a brain dead Hufflepuff, and now she has got me lying that I have a date when I don't even have so much as girl who will even glance at me!_ Why I felt the need to say I did was beyond me, I didn't care in the slightest what she nor any of her pathetic friends thought of me. An image of her with Black, dancing and sucking the life out of each other in costume flooded my mind causing me to growl slightly at the mere thought of it.

"Sorry..." I faintly heard her mumble before the noise of her moving her chair away from me resounded off the empty walls. A faint pang was evident in my chest, but I did what I do best and pushed whatever dirty emotion it was away and turned to her stoic and in control with the required book for the lesson.

"I was thinking I could go over the ingredients with you and then show you how its _supposed_ to be brewed, unlike the feeble attempts I am sure you would produce from following the basic instructions, I have a few ideas of my own which I suppose a single minded Gryffindor like yourself should be able to follow, if you manage to pay attention for long enough that is" My tone was sharp as always, but the fact that I was willing to let her into some of my secret potion making skills was enough to make me want to curse myself. _Why did I often find myself out of character around her?_ _What was it in her large evergreen eyes that made me act so...so normal? _I eyed her small form which was currently slumped over the end of our desk, her ample chest hiding several blank sheets of parchment beneath her. I eyed her closely as she took in my words, her body straightening up ever so slightly as she did so, while her face brightened as she smiled to herself.

"That sounds like a plan then!" she said as she inked her quill and began looking out her own copy of Advanced Potion Making.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ I thought as I turned my own beaten but cherished copy of the book to the last chapter and began searching through all my hand written notes on the Love Potion page. I concluded that since this was most likely to come up in our N.E.W.T's this year and that since we were partners, maybe it would be best to just share most of my tips on finessing this potion with her._ It would be in both our best interests if she could excel more in class_ I thought. _I don't want people to assume I associate myself with anyone less than outstanding._

"To start I would ignore the first three statements, you get more juice from the cactus if you crush it instead of squeezing it and as the for the rose thorns, adding six rather than seven creates a more truer blend"

"Wow, you sound like you know a lot about this!" She gawked as she scribbled down the numerous alterations I continued to list off, her hand writing much neater than usual as she used a fancier cursive script. She seemed genuinely in awe at my improvements and I felt a wave of pride rush through me as she smiled at me, her face giving away her emotions so easily. "You must be quite the ladies man then eh? Master of the love potion and not to mention braking the rules for actually brewing one" The little smirk she shot me at her last statement did not go unnoticed. "Girls love a bad boy you know. Well I do anyway"

I smiled weakly back at her as I turned back to my book, my hands sweatier than before as I felt heat rush to my cheeks. _Yes, I'm a right lady killer I am._

* * *

**Olivia's POV**

"So I stir it three times anti-clockwise _then_ four times clockwise?" I quizzed my sallow skinned tutor as he pinched his nose in evident frustration. I had asked him the same thing now three times in a row. "And not six times clockwise like the book states, no?"

"For the final time Olivia, yes. That is what you should do if you want your potion to be perfectly, pink" He seethed as he pointed to a candy coloured picture on the left page of his book. The other page was supposed to hold the ingredients and brewing technique, but was marred with untidy scribbles on any unprinted bit of page as various printed words had also been crossed out. _What exactly did this boy do with his spare time but study? And here was me thinking I needed a new hobby. Pfft!_

"How come you know all this stuff anyway?" I casually asked as I noted down his final bit of help, making sure to keep my writing neat so I could treasure it forever. Its not everyday Severus Snape dishes out help to people, and he especially never shares any of his little shortcuts with them that was for sure. There was no way my usual scramble of words would of done his words justice. They were so precisely correct that I literally felt as though I was being taught things so secret and important that they could change the world of potions if anyone else knew. _Okay, a little far fetched, but I am in love apparently, so I am allowed to speak gibberish now and again_. Here was me suggesting these lessons for completely selfish reasons of spending more time with him and assuming I would have to play dumb, then he goes and throws all this on me. He was a genius! A total hottie genius! I suddenly feel much better about lying to Sirius earlier now that I am actually learning something. I am definitely not letting Severus go now that was sure. Not after I had gone through all this trouble to get him here. _Oh wait, he has a girlfriend. Well maybe not an actual __girlfriend, but a date to this stupid Halloween dance this weekend anyway. Unlike moi! Wonderful. I think I am the only seventh year without a date._

He straightened up next to me before answering. "I take potion brewing very seriously and think it is a great talent to have" I nodded for him to continue, hoping he would elaborate a little more and not just leave me hanging with one of his one sentence replies. "People don't seem to realise the magnitude potion brewing has in our everyday lives as Witches and Wizards. No-one pays any attention to who actually brews the potions we use everyday, from the bone healing potions Healers use right down to the cleaning potions we use at home. Someone takes great skill and care brewing each of those and most people do not even think of it as a highly enough skill to even learn"

"Unlike you?" I added as I smiled at him. We were only a few inches apart as I had retaken my position next to him rather than at the table end the moment I was sure he was on polite speaking terms with me again. Which by the way, didn't seem to take very long which I was extremely grateful for, as though I thought his snappy comments were wonderfully crafted, I preferred when he wasn't biting my head of continuously.

"Yes unlike me" He said rather bluntly which caused me to put my hand over his, which had been resting idly on the table next to his potions book. If I was going to hell for this, I was going to go down with a bang. There was no way that I was arguing with Sirius and lying to Lexi just to sit here and study, I was going to make full use of this situation.

"I think its a wonderful interest you have in Potion brewing Severus, and I bet one day you will come up with many a ground braking new antidote which will make all of those idiots who didn't think potions a highly enough subject to take it through to N.E.W.T level look like fools. Unlike _us"_ I put extra emphasis on the word us to try my best to assure him I fully agreed with him on everything he had said, and that he wasn't alone. I noticed him smile slightly before he snatched his hand back and cleared his throat. _Where any of my subtle moves ever going to work on him?_ I sighed deeply when the conclusion of _no_ sprung to my mind. _Damn! _I thought, before I was reminded that had been the second smile I had been rewarded with from him since our make up yesterday._ Maybe I wasn't so bad at all this flirting business after all. Lexi would be so proud of my advances, minus who they were currently on that is._

"I think the potion should be about ready now if you want to go take a look, states in here it should be bright pink, but I feel if its a tad bit darker it will work better" He quickly said before he began clearing away his stuff. I sighed as I made my way over to the other two tables in the room that we had pushed together a couple of hours ago to hold our cauldron etc, so I could be shown how a 'pro does it' as he would most likely say. Even though it was illegal, _technically_ to brew a love potion on Hogwarts grounds, it was mostly just frowned upon as there was no warding spells or barriers anywhere in Hogwarts that physically stopped you. Only a prying nosy teacher technically could, and there was none about at this time of day, or this deep into the dungeons either for that matter. Thank Merlin!

I leaned over the dark pink potion and was instantly hit by its intoxicating smell. It was a combination of several enticing aromas, each more intoxicating than the last. I took in a deep breath. _Hmm... _Sweet cherry blossoms hit my senses and immediately made me think of my favourite place in the whole world; Japan. The next was a more distinct smell of petrol. I used to love the smell of petrol every time my mum used to take us to fill the car up. _God, I hope I'm not __secretly an arsonist! Not good... _The third was a musky smell. A Very odd smell that I associated with the musky aroma of the monkey flower. It was something my dad tended to use quite a lot in his healing potions at home and something I was sure a certain Slytherin used also as I remembered smelling it off him that day in the Library. The third and last smell had Severus Snape written all over it. _Mentha longifolia_, or the Horse Mint plant to be more precise. My dad never had used this ingredient as it was hard to source, and I was sure that anything I had ever brewed never contained it in it, which left only one suspect. _Severus_. I was almost certain now I had pinpointed his peppermint earthy smell down to a tea, and what a lovely scent it was. Even if both things were named after my least favourite animals. I smiled to my self as I bathed in the interesting combination of my favourite aromas. _Even he can make monkeys and horses smell sexy!_

"Smell something you like?" A husky voice snapped me out of my day dream in which had this lesson ending very much differently and much more, ahem...naughty than I sure it actually would. My mind is pure and utter filth at times I swear. "You are meant to smell the things that elicit your enticement, so do you smell anything Olivia?"

"I ehm...I smell mint!" I exclaimed rather loudly as I panicked from his questioning gaze. _I look a right idiot now I bet! Great... _I shook my head free of the mind boggling smoke and focused on the person next to me with great difficulty. "Do you smell anything _enticing_ Severus?" I managed out in my best seductive voice. I was determined to save myself before dotery Olivia broke through again and ruined the moment.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye before bending over the cauldron and inhaling deeply, a look of sheer pleasure crossing his face as he did so. _I wonder what smells turn him on? _I watched intently as his cheeks became flushed and his breathing became more shallow. I found myself taking an unnecessary step closer to his blackened form as I became aware of his light fidgeting and what looked like sweaty palms. _Is that his wand I can see hiding in his trouser pocket? Okay..._

"So _Severus_, what do you smell?" I whispered into his ear, gaining a slight moan as I did so. _Wow, maybe I am not as bad at this seducing thing as I thought! _If only Lexi could see me now, she would see I'm not a total dunce at romantics as she always thought. I smiled proudly to myself as I leaned into his ear, my breath heavy and full of lust as I tried my best not to pin him to the floor here and now and have my wicked way with him.

A deep throaty cough echoed around me as Severus took two hasty steps away from me and to his right. "I don't smell anything, nothing at all fruity in the slightest" And with that he grabbed his already packed satchel and swiftly made his way over towards the classroom door. _He is such a terrible liar!_ I laughed internally.

I watched as he opened the door, stopping for only a moment to remind me to clean up before I left. "Remember to leave the classroom as it was, I'm not in the mood to get another detention because of you and your slacking abilities" And he was gone, his black cloak billowing behind him like smoke.

I stood dumbfounded by his sudden change of demeanour for a few seconds before a thought hit me. I ran over to the classroom door, opening it swiftly hoping that he was still in hearing distance. "Oh and Severus? I have a date for the dance next week too! Just thought I would let you know!"

I noticed a shadow in the distance stop briefly before speeding up and disappearing into the shadows almost as quickly as it stopped. _There that will show him for having a date! Now, who the hell am I going to get to go to the dance with me?_ _Shit! Two lies in one day. Thank Merlin I'm not a Christian!_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hello readers? I hope you are all still here! :| Sorry for the majorly late delay in this chapter. I had incredibly bad writers block. Have written certain scenes in this chapter at least five times and i am still not 100% happy with the outcome. :S Anyways, please bare with me and i PROMISE i will not take another like two months to write the next chapter. Lol. Hope you all enjoy! Please read and review. :]**

Chapter Thirteen: Star Rocky Horror Wars?

"Where have you guys been! I have been going out my mind trying to get ready here by myself!" Lily huffed at me and Lexi as we strolled into our dorm room. The floor was barely visible from all the strewn bits of clothing that were tossed about here and there. It physically looked like a bomb had hit since we had left a semi tidy room only thirty minutes ago. "Lexi you promised you would help me with my make up and there is only two hours before the party starts and I can't decide on an outfit and you, Olivia, promised you would lend me a pair of your shoes since its Halloween and...and..."

"Lily, take a deep breath and calm down will you" I laughed as I made my way through the littered floor and over towards my corner of the room, Lexi going over to Lily and enveloping her in her arms hoping no doubt this would calm her down. "Lexi can do your make up now, and you only want to borrow a pair of my shoes since its Halloween and the only time in your life you ever get to dress borderline normal"

I realised now probably wasn't the best time for fun and jokes as Lexi shot me a look as she signalled chopping her neck with her hand. Before I even had time to retrace my steps however, Lily's full intense gaze was on me. Her eyes red and bloodshot and her face sourer than an acid lemon.

"And what is wrong with the way I dress Olivia?" She shot out as she rounded on me. I physically shrunk back from her as I tiptoed out of sight and hid behind the red crimson curtains of my four poster bed. I may be sharp with my words sometimes, but if you ever had the opportunity to cross Lily on a bad day, it would make me look like a clown fish. When Lily was stressed, she turns into Godzilla. It's actually terrifying.

"Sorry Lils, what is it you need? Feel free to raid anything of mine and take what you want. I am at your service for the next hour, promise" I smiled at her as I popped my head around the post I was hiding behind and sighed loudly when she smiled slightly back. Everyone was trying their best to act normal again after the whole Hogsmeade thing and pretty much succeeding at it also. Sirius had stopped his interfering questions, Lexi hadn't made a peep about Severus, and neither did anyone else for that matter, and Lily was just as stressed out about silly things like always. The world was back to normal, except that I was really still talking to Severus and hiding the fact that I was from everyone. But apart from that little fact, we were all relatively back on normal speaking terms.

"I'm sorry I am acting so much like a-"

"Drill Sergeant?" I offered before she shot me a look again causing me to pull my head out of view once more.

"Like a stressed out fool I was going to say" she hissed in my direction before continuing in a more calm and relaxed tone, "I am just so stressed as I really, really want to look nice for this dance and everything seems to be going wrong already. I can't seem to find the outfit my mum owled me last week and the only other ones I have is the rather revealing one you gave me yesterday Lexi and a large bunny outfit from two years ago when I went trick or treating with my little five year old cousin"

"Lily it's going to be okay" I heard Lexi sooth, "I will get started on your make up now while Olivia looks for your dress and you will be all dressed and ready to wow James in no time"

I decided now was the time to stop hiding. "Lexi's right, you will knock him off his feet!" I smiled at Lily through the mirror she was now currently facing as I began lifting up numerous articles of clothing off the floor. "Now what does this costume look like again?"

"Its white and there is a ehm, gold thing that goes with it also. I'm going as-"

"It's fine! I shall find it!" I called as I cut her off. Lexi smiled at me as she tried hard to suppress a giggle. She knew I could only tolerate Lily in short bursts when she was in one of her panic fits. She was worse than me when I was in one of my normal moods, she would just never shut up! _Now where is something white?_ I thought as I continued searching the floor. _Aha! Found it! No wait, what's this with it? Surely not! _"Ehm is this it Lily?" I casually asked as I lifted a hanger off the floor that held a white turtle neck dress, a black machine type gun and what appeared to be gold metallic undergarments.

I noticed her blush, even under all the make up Lexi was slapping on her face. "Yeah, that's it! Just put it on my bed or something out the way and I will get it in a minute" She shouted, rather quickly I noted.

"If you are planning on unveiling that gold slave wear tonight to James, I think you better ask Dumbledore to get the Hospital wing prepared as he will no doubt have a heart attack!" I laughed as I placed her Princess Leia costume on her bed. _I bet anything James is going as Hans Solo_, I giggled to myself as I went over and dug out a pair of my shoes that would match Lily's outfit perfectly. _Now onto getting myself ready! _I thought as I made my way into the bathroom, decidedly uplifted about my own choice of attire. I had decided to embrace this party, date or no date. It was the start of having fun again and not arguing with everyone any more. Although I was still sneakily seeing Severus behind their backs, well Lexi's as no-one had known I had been friends with Severus at all to begin with, I felt extremely uplifted knowing I wasn't getting hassled off my friends any more. Although I still had a horrible gut feeling that Sirius still hadn't let the matter completely go yet...

Xxx

_Why am I always late? _I thought to myself as I dashed about our dorm room trying to grab any last minute possessions that I had almost forgotten. _Red Lipstick?_ Check. _Black eye-liner?_ Check. _Feather duster?_ Check. _Push up bra on?_ Double check. _Hair magically permed?_ Check. _Costume on?_ Check!

"You ready yet Ollie? The dance is gonna start any minute now and we need to get a move on!" Lexi's annoyed tones travelled through the mahogany door of our room as she stood impatiently waiting for me in the hall. _Right, well it is now or never I suppose!_ And with that I checked my slightly scary appearance over in the mirror and meandered my way over to the door, opening it to reveal a very dolled up looking Lexi in tight black leather trousers, which where like a second skin, and her hair also in a magical perm for the night.

"Wow! You trying to give Sirius a heart attack Lex?" I laughed as we made our way down the stairs and out into the common room. "You gonna make him see that you're_ the one that he wants_?"

"Haha very funny!" She fake laughed as we exited the portrait hole, "You going to make funny jokes like that all night or is that your last one?"

I put on my serious face. "I don't know what you mean. I was only trying to suggest that you two go together like..." I tapped my lip with my finger as I pretended to think of what word to use. Lexi's curious expression was faintly visible under the fifty layers of hooker slap she currently had on her face. She raised an eyebrow at me, urging me to continue. "_Like a ra-ma la-ma la-ma da ding a da ding de dong!_" I laughed as I began to burst out into song, waving my arms about like a right idiot as we made our way down the several flights of stairs to the great hall.

"Right that's enough!" She hissed as she attempted to grab my arms and stop my one man show of Grease. "You look no better yourself you know, your dressed like a French maid hooker!"

I stopped my prancing about as we reached the fifth floor. "Hey! I put a lot of effort into this costume I have you know! Did my hair and everything to make it look authentic" I smiled to myself, pride practically radiating off me I was so chuffed with my efforts

Lexi however was less impressed. "Who are you supposed to be again anyway?" she scoffed out, a twinkle in her eye as if she already knew but was determined to get me back for the slagging off her costume got from me.

"Ehm hello? I am Magenta!" I scoffed back at her as I held my arms open and did a twirl for emphisisation, my Victorian style boots clopping off the stone floor. She raised her eye brow at me as though to say 'who?'. "Magenta, Dr. Frank-N-Furter's home help? Riff Raff's sister/lover?" Her eye brow raised higher at every hint mentioned. I scoffed loudly at her naïvety. "The Rocky Horror Picture Show Lexi! We watched it during the summer, best movie ever! Remember?"

Her face broke out in laughter. "Trust me, I remember!" she laughed as we reached the third floor and waited for the staircase to the second floor to arrive. _I am never wearing heels in Hogwarts again_, I internally moaned as I scrunched my boot covered toes. _Feet are killing me already!_

"Hey, you loved that movie when we watched it at mine. You said it was original!"

"Original being the key word Olivia" she laughed as we tip toed down yet another flight of stairs. "You've been trying to get me to go as that red haired tap dancer woman in it, what's her name? Something American or something, now for weeks! Ever since Dumbledore announced we would be having this party actually which was at least a good month ago"

I nodded my head in agreement. "True, but only because I was under the illusion that you actually _liked_ the film and thought we could go as a double act to look less stupid"

"Less stupid? The woman was wearing multicoloured sequinned shorts in the movie! I doubt that would of caught Sirius' eye, well not for the right reasons anyway. Now this on the other hand," she gestured to the Sandy from Grease costume she was wearing, the bad Sandy not the Sandra Dee one that butter wouldn't melt on. _No, that would be way to conservative and proper for Lexi_, "this will have him notice me"

"He will notice you alright, will be staring up at you from the floor after he has fainted when he sees your lady lumps practically spilling out at him!" I laughed as we finally made it onto the ground floor, music echoing off the stone walls around us as several students were wandering about outside the doors of the Great Hall. _No doubt waiting for dates or being stood up_, I thought as I realised I would now be joining them.

Lexi must have noticed the change in my demeanour as she asked, "So who's your date for tonight then?"

I smiled weakly up at her towering six foot height. "No-one technically..."

"Olivia, what do you mean by no-one? You told me you had asked people!" She hissed as we neared the small crowd of people, the music getting louder and louder the closer we got.

"Well I did, just no-one got back to me..." I mumbled, extremely embarrassed about my plan now to get a date. "I thought I would just hang around here for a while and if I see...you know, people...grab the nearest guy next to me and pretend I came with him"

"Please tell me you are joking!" she exclaimed as she gazed down at my weak smiling face, "Oh dear Merlin you are not!" she slapped a hand to her face before she grabbed me by the shoulders causing us both to stop just outside the Great Hall doors. "Olivia you just can't hang about here waiting to jump some random guy into being your date, its just not normal!"

"But why? I don't have a date and I am going to look like a right fool in front of uhm, people... when they come striding in here with the prettiest girl in Sly- I mean Hogwarts!" I half mumbled half hissed as I began to panic slightly. _Oh Merlin!_ I am standing here dressed like a incestuous French maid from out of space planning to jump some random dude into being with me for who knows how long. _What a well thought out plan this was, eh Olivia?_

"There is no way on earth that I am letting you go through with that plan" Lexi mumbled under her breath as she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the Great Hall. The first thing I noticed was the smoke, and there was lots and lots of it. Think Dumbledore had went over board on the order of dry ice to be honest. The second thing that came to my recognition as Lexi dragged me through the room to Merlin knows where, was the people. _Who knew there was so many people in sixth and seventh year?_ I certainly didn't anyway, but then again I hardly paid attention to much outside my preferred inner circle. My world was rather bubble wrapped at times. There was groups of people huddled here, there and everywhere! They all just looked the same to me in the smoke though, and some looked actually quite creepy in the darkened shadows with their costumes on. "I can see Lily and that over there I think, can't really see much through this smoke though. Can you?"

I coughed rather loudly as I nearly chocked on the clouds of death. "Nope, sorry I can't either. Besides if someone of your height can't see then I have no chance of seeing anything do I?" I laughed which only caused me to cough again. _Seriously, this smoke is killing me!_

"Oh my..." I heard Lexi exclaim next to me causing me to stop and try and see what she was gawking at. When my eyes locked onto something gold I almost choked. _What the hell is he wearing?_

"Is that..." I began only stopping to gawk some more at the sight before me.

"Yup, it is!" Lexi laughed as Luke Skywalker, C-3PO and R2-D2 walked towards us, or as they are usually known; Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. _Oh dear Lord what where they thinking..._

"Hey if I had known you were going as Sandy I would have perfected my D.A cut and went as Danny" Sirius smirked as he strolled towards us as though he looked the bees knees.

"I think you have already perfected it as you look like a right ducks arse in that!" I laughed as I pointed to his attire. "So where's your sister then?"

"Sister?" He asked confused, not taking his eyes away from Lexi, or rather her chest. When the both of them had became smitten with each other publicly was beyond me. _Man, I really need to stop spending so much time with my head in Severus Smut Land!_

"She means Lily, Sirius. Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker's sister in the movies" Remus stated as he came over to stand by me, reluctantly I might add. Peter following extremely close behind although not before scanning the room first as though he was doing something dodgy. _Why he didn't just go as a rat I don't know..._

I smiled awkwardly down at him as he stood by my other side, blatantly staring at Lexi's legs now. "Thank you Remus, at least you seem to be smart enough to play your character"

"Haha, very funny!" Sirius scoffed at me before turning back to give Lexi his undying attention. "My _sister _and Hans Solo have just disappeared before you guys showed up, no doubt snogging somewhere, although in this smoke you wouldn't be able to tell where _there_ is" He laughed rather knowingly at the last part before sharing a look with Remus, who was shaking his head and Peter, who looked rather excited and chuffed now. _Something is definitely up_, I thought. "Besides, Remus was planning on going as a wolf until we roped him into our group thing" He added as he laughed over towards Remus, whose face was rather red now. _At least he is showcasing all the Gryffindor colours_, I thought as I smirked at his red face and gold robot costume combo. H_e actually looks quite fetching in it. How though? I don't know._

"She's been cracking witty jokes ever since we have left Gryffindor Tower" Lexi informed Sirius as she placed her hand on his arm, her face wide and smiling. I couldn't help but smile back as I watched them interact with each other. They may have looked like the stereotypical good looking high school couple, but they genuinely seemed into each other for more than just each others good looks. They seemed attentive to each other and in tune with each others feelings so well. I watched him lean into her and whisper something into her ear, causing her to giggle and nod her head in response before he walked off in some random direction.

"They look good together don't they?" A small voice said next to me, somehow cutting through the loud music. I turned to see Remus smiling at me as he nodded towards Lexi who was now chatting idly to Peter, who somehow seemed to be really small in his R2-D2 costume. I had a suspicion magic had something to do with it however.

"Hmm..." I mumbled in return as I absent mindedly stared about at my surroundings, which where somehow miraculously a lot less smoky. I could actually see more than two inches in front of me now, which in turn let me see about the Great Hall in all its glory. And it didn't let me down not one bit! There were actual skeletons walking about serving drinks and nibbles, and the largest pumpkin's I had ever seen littered the corners of the Great Hall as numerous bats flew through the air, blending in perfectly with the night sky background of the enchanted ceiling. The rest of the decorations were distinctly Muggle-ish, most likely Dubledore's doing as rumour had it he had a soft spot for Muggle traditions. No doubt why we were having this party in the first place. A stage had been set up where the Professors table usually sat and what sounded like The Hobgoblins playing on it. A band I had never really been interested in to be perfectly honest, I was more of a Muggle rocker myself much to my fathers annoyance. "Its rather mysterious how all the smoke has now cleared to just floor level now isn't it?"

"Yes well, that might have had something to do with Sirius and James" Remus mumbled as he attempted to manoeuvre his arm up to grab a drink from a passing skeleton, me following his lead and taking one from the creepy bag of bones also. It was some sort of fruit punch with, what I hoped was, fake eyeballs floating in it. _Yummy!_

I took a long sip from my glass as I stared about at the people around us again, at a loss of what to do since Lexi had now disappeared from my view, no doubt to wherever Sirius had disappeared to a while back, and Lily and James still had yet to return. _I hope she really hasn't given him a heart attack..._I thought as I began to worry. I swallowed the bitter punch quickly before looking at what the rest of the students had decided to wear. Even though we were at the end of the seventies, several flares and maroon coloured tops seemed to dominate the room. Although in saying that, I could spot quite a few Rocky's and the odd scarily authentic Regan MacNeil here and there also. Sadly, I seemed to be the only Rocky Horror enthusiast here. "So what have them two idiots done now eh"

Remus looked about rather sheepishly before replying, "I have a feeling you won't like it, but lets just say that it involved them needing cover to go plan a few things, hence the extra smoke" Suddenly Remus coughed rather loudly next to me, spluttering his ruby red drink all down the front of his costume. "Merlin there is too much fire whisky in this! I think James must of used the whole six bottles by the taste of it!"

I was just about to take another drink when I stared wide eyed at Remus' still coughing red face. "Six bottles! Six whole bottles!" He nodded reluctantly at me before closing his eyes and shooting the rest of his drink down in one. I gazed around at the crowds again to see the majority of people giggling and swaying about everywhere like drunken fools. Six bottles indeed it seemed. I wasn't one for drinking normally, well not fire whisky anyway, but it was Halloween after all so what the hell. I downed my own glass in one as my cheeks flushed to match that of Remus'.

"You look very, well, fitting tonight Olivia" My cheeks reddened further at Rumus' polite comment.

"You look very uhm, shiny tonight" I awkwardly replied back just before I was rudely banged into from behind causing me to fall ungracefully into Remus. "Wha-?" I gasped out as I attempted to grab onto Remus' very shiny gold armoured shoulder which only caused me to slide down him like I was sliding down a pane of glass. Fortunately though, I managed to stabilize myself just as I reached his crotch which only caused me to redden further from embarrassment. _How come I am always so stupidly awkward around Remus? I set him on fire last year and now I am staring at my own reflection in his shiny gold crotch in public. Wonderful!_

"Let me help you! I can help you!" A muffled squeak sounded behind me before little arms started tugging at my armpits and pulling me back up into a standing position. I turned around to see a R2-D2 with his helmet off showcasing a chuffed looking grin.

"Thank you Peter, was nice of you to help me up after you knocked me to the ground. Such a gentleman as always" I scoffed down at him as I felt Remus shuffle away from my side slightly, no doubt in fear I would do something else stupid around him as that seemed to be my thing when he was near.

Peter smiled brightly up at me resembling a buck toothed ant eater. "I am quite the gentleman I know"

I offered a weak smile in return before I grimaced slightly as I noticed he was attempting to stare up my skirt. "I, ehm...need to go"

"Where are you going?" Remus called after me as he glanced between myself and Peter, who was now stuffing his face with cheese and pickle hedgehog sticks. He looked conflicted for a second before he made his way over towards me, a sheepish smile on his face as he did so. "I will come and keep you company, if that's okay?"

I knew he didn't want to come with me, but wanted to stay with full on annoying Peter even less so I smiled kindly and nodded in reply.

"Thanks" He smiled at me before grabbing two glasses off the nearest skeleton and downing them one after the other. I followed his lead knowing I would no doubt need all the help I could get to block this night from my memory as quickly as possible, it was already turning into a disaster and I hadn't even seen Severus and his sluttish date yet. I smiled lopsidedly as my throat burned and my head began to feel fuzzy. There was a reason I never drank fire whisky and I was staring to remember why; I got as drunk as a skunk on it. _Oh dear..._

_xxx_

"You are such a wonderful dancer!" I giggled as we spun round and round in a circle on the dance floor. I had a faint feeling we were dancing at the wrong time to the tune, but I didn't care. Everyone was dancing like escapees around us and the four glasses of fire punch, as I have decided to call it, was making me not give a damn what state we looked in right now.

"I have to say Ollie I never knew you were this fun!" Remus laughed as he grabbed onto my hands tighter as we began spinning even faster. His gold helmet was long gone now as were his shiny gold mittens, which I was extremely glad of at the moment as he had much better grip without them. "Although it could have something to do with nothing being set on fire just yet"

"Don't worry, there is still time for me to set something alight or to break something, so I wouldn't get too excited" I laughed back as another song came on prompting me to sing _ring a ring a roses_ along to it for no other reason than I felt like it. I was such a random drunk, and although I was only feeling slightly tipsy at the moment, I knew if I had a few more glasses I would end up doing something incredibly stupid tonight.

"Well lets hope it doesn't come-" Remus began before he was cut off by someone pushing through the crowd, their tall lean frame knocking into Remus who knocked into me and caused me to fall back on the floor. Remus falling on top of me as I lay sprawled out like a star fish.

"Hey! Watch it will you!" I shouted as I stabled myself slightly and glared about my slightly spinning surroundings. My head buzzing from the four or so glasses of spiked punch I had guzzled down in the last hour or so. _I really do drink like I'm a fish_. _Oh dear..._

"No I believe it should be you who should be watching it"

"Olivia I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Remus mumbled as his cheeks burned bright red almost matching the colour of my hair. He began sliding his way off me and back into a standing position, although the several glasses of punch were clearly having an effect on his motor skills as he was failing miserably and kept falling back down on top of me again.

I couldn't help but giggle at the absurdity of the situation as it was usually me who was the clumsy one when we were together, not the regal like Remus who was always so composed. "Here let me help you" I smiled up at him as I began helping him off me, him helping me up once he had finally made it back onto his feet.

"Olivia?" I felt my whole body flinch as I recognised the voice immediately. _I now suddenly regretted not drinking more punch!_ I looked over a baffled Remus' shoulder to see no other than Severus Snape standing dressed as a priest. _A priest? _I couldn't help but smile slightly as he did look good in black._ Very good actually..._

"Lost your vomit covered Devil child? I saw a few over there if you have" I smiled wider at the confused looking expression he was shooting at me. Of course Severus wouldn't have a clue as to who I was referring to, with him being anti-Muggle and all. "I assumed you came as the Priest from the Exorcist and not as an actual Religious one? Somehow I can't picture you at mass on a Sunday" I couldn't hold back the giggle that escaped my lips over the image if him sitting among butter wouldn't melt Christian families with his frowning expression and Devilish aura. My Aunt would throw holy water at him from the sight of him alone. Then again she was slightly mad and paranoid. Thought she was married to Chewbacca for a year, but turned out a stray dog had been living with her instead. _Slightly mad being the biggest understatement actually..._

His demeanour stiffened and I immediately regretted laughing at him now knowing full well he was going to go all shifty and start referring to me as _White_ again after tonight. "Well as delightful as that was, I hope you and your so called _date _have fun"

"Date what date?" I asked confused before noticing Remus standing next to me, his hand on my arm in a protective manner as he frowned after Severus who was attempting to walk away. That coupled with the little show of Remus and I rolling around on the floor like a couple of dogs in heat and probably even the blind would of assumed we were here together. I shivered at the thought.

"No we are definitely not here on a date!" Remus spoke up, talking as though the mere idea of it was absurd as hell. His hand flew from my arm faster than you could say _Levicorpous_.

I crossed my arms over my chest as I huffed loudly. _I wasn't that bad to be seen with was I?_ _What was that Muggle saying again? Ah, two birds with one stone_ I thought as I smirked triumphantly. "That's not what you said earlier in the broom closet? You seemed to think we were on a date then"I coed. My smile only got wider as I clocked how tight Severus' shoulders became as his pace quickened and he all but fled from the dance floor. Remus acting similar, although hopefully for different reasons all together. _Will teach them both_ I thought as I giggled childishly in glee at scaring Remus off for being rude, and at the absurd hopeful idea that Severus had ran off because he was somewhat jealous. _Yup, I need to stop living in fairy tale land as that is so obviously not true in the slightest!_

Xxx

_**Severus' POV**_

Red hair and silly costume. I should of known it was her the moment I had laid eyes on her and that idiotic Lupin with his absurd gold robotic costume. How childish to dress as a robot from some Muggle film. He didn't deserve Olivia in the slightest. Even if she too, was dressed as someone from a Muggle movie. A movie I had reluctantly watched and shamefully rather enjoyed. I straightened my posture even more before continuing marching through the dance floor, searching for some secluded corner I could hide in for the remainder of the evening.

I had been in two minds over coming tonight. Usually I would skip these sorts of ridiculous parties and hide in my room studying until they were over, but after the private lesson with Olivia on Wednesday, tonight was all I had found myself thinking about. Be it what absurd outfit she might be wearing, to how I was going to manage to secure a date for tonight, something that I sadly couldn't even comprehend trying to accomplish. No girl in this school had the basic intellect to keep me awake never mind engrossed in a conversation. None except two girls; one who hated my entire being and the other who was now at this moment sucking the face off wispy Lupin no doubt in the overly decorated courtyard. I felt my blood boil and my stomach lurch at the thought.

"Ah Snapey! Just the man we where looking for!" I instinctively reached for my wand knowing full well that the sound of that voice could mean nothing but trouble. I ignored his call however and carried on powering my may through the drunken students on the dance floor. "Don't make us chase after you now Snivellus. The force is in our favour. That right James?"

"Nah mate. Its _may the force be with you_, but you were pretty close" Potter voiced back as I rolled my eyes at the absurdity of them before being stopped by two people with glow up sticks in front of me.

"Move" I hissed.

"Hmm, nah don't think so" Black smirked out before swishing his stick around a few times like a little child with a toy. I made to move to the side of them before being cut off again. "We are just here to have a little word with you, least you can do is stick around to hear it"

"I don't care for anything you have to say so move, before I curse you into next week" I all but snarled as I made to move to their other side before being stopped, yet again. If I wasn't one for not wanting to get caught acting out, then I would of stuck to my threat and hexed both of them into St. Mungo's. But sadly McGonagall was currently standing at the far end of the hall staring me and my un-welcomed companions down with her condescending glare. I sighed deeply as I resigned to hearing them out and cursing them later when no-one was watching. "Fine" I huffed loudly, my hand still firmly gripping my wand. I may not like the idea of being caught breaking school rules, but I certainly wasn't stupid enough to think that Potter and Black would think twice before hexing me in front of a Professor. If anything it would only encourage the rule breaking brats. "Spit it out so I can be on my way"

Black smirked triumphantly making me want to punch his treacherous face in for just breathing. "Smart choice Snivellus" I glanced over to see McGonagall still eyeing us over as though just waiting for something to happen before glaring Black down once more. Mentally urging him to continue so I could be done with them. "we are only here to say one thing and one thing only; stay away from Olivia"

"And Lily" Potter added as he stood beside his black haired moron of a friend.

"And Lexi" Black spoke again before shaking his head slightly in a very annoying manner which only caused me to want to hex him more. "Come to think of it actually, stay away from all our friends. You and your troll looking mates"

"Why would I want to be near anyone who remotely finds either of you two interesting?" I stoically stated causing Potter to grab Black's wand drawn hand and signal over his shoulder to where McGonagall was still firmly watching our every little move. "Besides, Ol-_White_ doesn't seem to mind my company." Blacks eyes hardened. "In fact quite the opposite really, I can't seem to get rid of her she loves it that much"

"In your dreams Snape" Black hissed at me as he tried to shake Potter off him, his knuckles turning white on the hand round his wand.

"Calm down will you, he is only saying that to get to you. Don't listen to him mate, don't rise to the bait" Potter attempted to calm him down which only caused me to smirk more. _The chauvinistic idiot trying to make the hot headed fool see sense? It was almost too comical a sight for even myself to handle._

"As if anyone would want anything to do with you. She hates going to potions and having to sit in your company, you make her sick!"

My smirk widened. "Well she certainly wasn't complaining Wednesday night when she was with me that was for sure. All alone we were, in the dungeons and-"

Blacks eyes narrowed into slits before he flew at me, his wand raised and aimed directly at my face. "Why you little-"

"Sirius Black! If you dare utter one more word I will personally see to it that you are expelled from this school before you even finish saying it!" McGonagall's shrill tones cut through the music and party noise as she marched over to where we where standing. Black's arm was in mid-air as Potter held it back at the wrist. Acting ever the hero as always.

I offered them both one final triumphant smirk before disappearing into the now staring crowd just before McGonagall appeared before them and dragged them both off, no doubt to her office. As much as I loved seeing them in trouble, I didn't fancy my odds at being put in detention with them. McGonagall was Gryffindor's head of house after all. I pushed my way through the crowds and out into the sickly decorated courtyard hoping that I could make a clean sprint back to Slytherin through this way. The cold air hit me and chilled me to the bone reminding me further why I hated Muggle clothes so much. The lack of cloak to keep me warm was dreadfully missed at this moment.

I furrowed my brow at the several couples I passed, many of them inter-house ones at that, not understanding their need to show their feelings quite so publicly, none of them even batting an eyelid at my presence they were so so wrapped up in each other. Something panged in my chest which I put down to sickness at witnessing people showcasing such horrid emotions towards each other. _How you could care for someone deeply enough that you would go against your house, your own set rules, to be with them, I would never be able to comprehend._ _I didn't care for any of that nonsense_. I folded my arms and quickened my strides.

"Severus?"

_**Olivia's POV**_

Here I was sitting outside in the freezing cold hiding from Peter and nursing my eighth or so drink and he chooses to show up. First he had to see me and Remus acting like idiots, and now he needs to see me sitting alone and drunk, no doubt looking like a train wreck as my make up has probably slid half way down my face by now. _Somehow I had hoped tonight would have been extremely different, but me being me, I don't know why! This was usually the sort of bad luck I would find myself in. Lucky me eh?_

"I see your date has left you. No doubt got what he wanted before he left" His shoulders were the tightest I had ever seen them as he looked off to the opposite side of me, refusing to even acknowledge my presence directly it seemed.

"What?" I asked, completely baffled by his statement until my foggy mind managed to finally work it out. I physically shivered at the thought of Remus looking at me seductively never mind anything else. _Yuck! He just wasn't my type. Too polite and timid and, well, nice for me. Not that I was some sort of man eater now, I just liked someone with a bit more wit. A bit more...Slytherin in them?_ "Eww at you even thinking that! Remus would never just use somebody like that" I noticed Severus huffing which only urged me to continue. "And plus I don't like him like that. He's not my type"

His shoulders loosened slightly as though a weight had been lifted off them, but he still wouldn't meet my eye. "As thrilled for you as I am that your standards reach higher than that of loony Lupin, I really don't care what or who you do in your spare time"

"Please stop talking about me doing people, its really making me sick" I murmured as I hugged my stomach, my drink now long forgotten as the contents of my belly did back-flips. _Please don't throw up! Please don't throw up!_

Silence washed over us for a second as I continued my mantra to myself and kept my mouth closed in fear that if I opened it, the worse would happen. I didn't know why Severus didn't just leave, as he seemed the sort to not hang around if he didn't have anything to say, but he stood. Still and unwavering as he stared off into the distance as though deep in thought.

"Why are you out here all alone then?" He suddenly asked. His tone almost curious sounding.

"Well, I ehm...I'm hiding from Peter"

"Pettigrew?" He asked. His eyes suddenly meeting mine with a gaze that was full of wonder and, something else. Almost looked like he was holding something back from me or trying to read my mind for answers, but my mind was too fuzzy at the moment to think of what one.

I nodded in reply as I took a few cleansing breaths through my nose before thinking it safe to open my mouth and speak. "I purposely scared Remus off with my fake comment about me and him being together and then Peter showed up and wouldn't leave me alone. If I had stayed and caught him staring up my skirt one more time I knew I wouldn't be responsible for my actions and I'm fully booked this week with detentions as it is! He is such a little ratty pervert, it's creepy as hell!"

I looked up just in time to see Severus' eyes harden before he turned away from me once again. My head pounded from my sudden movement causing me to rest it on my lap and encase it in my arms hoping to stop it spinning.

"Are you okay?" worried tones asked before a shadow loomed directly over me. I sat still, afraid of moving in case everything wasn't okay. A few minutes passed before I felt a reluctant hand rest on my back. Long thin fingers moved in circular motions up and down in a calming effect. Heat rushed to my cheeks as I peeked up to see a worried Severus hovering over me looking very awkward in his role of male comforter.

I took a deep breath knowing it was definitely now or never. I had several glasses of Dutch courage in me and we were alone, with him actually touching me. Something that if I wasn't so drunk and sick at the moment would of made me physically melt inside with joy. I took a deep breath and ignored the tidal waves splashing in my stomach as I began to speak. "Severus, I really fancy the arse off-"

And then I vomited. On his shoes no less. Which caused him to jump back in disgust before shooting me a look of pure hatred and fleeing from me faster than a Nimbus 1001. _Oh Merlin, could anything ever go smoothly in my life?_


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry again for the delay, I had a few issues with how I wanted this chapter to turn out. Not exactly how I pictured it, but as close as I could get my rambling thoughts translated onto paper anyways. Lol. Oh, and it was kinda huuuge, so its in two parts. Second part will be up in a day or two, gotta edit it still and didn't have time to do it with this part. Silly I know. :|**

Chapter Fourteen: Period Pain, And Other Pains In The Ass: Part One

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

I rolled and tossed and curled and did everything humanly possible to stop the infernal thudding, but nothing was working. I remained curled up in a ball under my duvet even though the small reasonable voice in my head was telling me that I needed to get up and take some sort of hangover potion or else I would be just resigning myself to my hungover state. And what a state that was I tell you. First of all there was the vomiting, which lasted well past that of Severus' shoes, then there was the head thumping, which was still working its magic even now the next day and worst of all, was the fact that I am more than positive that it was Peter who had helped me up to the common room, and I am more than scared to admit that the memory is a little hazy from then on in. I was more determined now than ever to stay huddled under the covers in case my horrid nightmares of Peter lying in all his ratty glory next to me might actually be true. _Oh no, I need to vomit again!_ I flew from my bed and to the bathroom faster than what I thought was humanly possible.

"Feeling rough are we?" Lexi's monotonous voice rang out from the bathroom door as I sat hugging the porcelain toilet for dear life, my head resting on the toilet seat as I took deep heavy breaths trying to regain the feeling in my legs which I seemed to have lost since sprinting here.

I didn't reply. I physically couldn't.

"Well, you should go thank Peter for helping you back home last night. Don't know how he managed to carry your fat ass up them stairs, but he did, so the least you could do is go thank him"

My eyes snapped open as I glared up at her from my lower position curled up on the red tiled floor. "He-he carried me?" _Oh Merlin I was going to be sick again. The thought of his little grubby hands coming near me never mind carrying me up several flights of stairs was not helping my current condition at all._

"Yes. Yes he did. Right after you vomited on Snape's shoes" I flinched at her harsh tone as I threw my head down my lavatory saviour once more. My stomach tightening in protest as pain filled my insides from hurling for several hours straight._ I was officially never drinking Fire Whisky again. Wine and the odd Rosmerta cocktail or two, yes. But fire Whisky was officially scrapped from my liquid menu from now on._

"Sev-Severus? He saw that?" I managed to pop out as I pushed my way from the toilet and leaned against the cool tiles of the wall. My body temperature of a thousand degrees lowering somewhat. I was surprised I didn't sizzle on contact and cause steam.

"Yes. Yes he did" Her hands rested on her hips as she spoke with venom laced words. She was clearly pissed at me for going near Severus. Apparently even the fact that I had emptied my entire stomach contents over him had no effect on her sobering opinion. "He also heard every word you told him" _Ah, that's why she is being so bitchy still!_ "Luckily for you though he didn't know what you were about to tell him where as I did. Olivia, how could you be so stupid!"

I closed my eyes in annoyance. I accepted the fact that my cover had been blown quicker than the average person who lies would have been, then again I wasn't exactly radiating stealth was I? I also accepted my fate of having to be lectured again for Merlin knows how long about why I shouldn't go near him, blah blah blah. But what I didn't accept, was the fact that all this needed to be discussed now. At this exact moment, when I physically felt like I was dying. _Could it not wait till tomorrow, when death himself had decided I wasn't worth it after all and left me here to rot in all my horrid misery? Hell I will no doubt still be sitting in this exact position even then!_

"Don't think we are not gonna talk about this just because you drank yourself silly last night. Your decision, your problem" I frowned at the lack of care in my best friends words. "So spill it. What's going on between you two? And the truth this time Olivia"

I took a deep calming breath and opened my eyes. I know she wouldn't go away and leave me to die peacefully until I told her what had happened, so I might as well get it over with, and fast. "I ignored your warnings and have been speaking to Severus as normal for the past week. I have been flirting with him like mad and even asked him to tutor me on Potions. I bragged to him I had a date last night when I felt I couldn't ask him to go with me and so I drank several glasses of spiked punch to drown out the whole experience, only to find myself licking Remus' crotch and spilling more than just my heart out to Severus, who will most definitely never even be looking in my direction any more after that escapade never mind talk to me, so it was all in vain. You win, I'm a loser and the story is over with. Finito. Goodbye. Done!" I breathed heavily as I tried to catch my breath, Lexi looking at me in utter shock as I crawled my way through the bathroom. "Well I am off to bed to no doubt die from alcohol poisoning so if you wouldn't mind just leaving me alone till then, that would be great" I brushed past her and over to my bed, somehow managing to make it back up and into a little ball again without so much as my stomach churning once. "Night night"

Silence filled the room for all of two minutes.

"As if I am going to just let you lie there after you spilled all that!" Lexi hissed as her heels thudded over to my bedside. The noise giving my headache, a headache. "You, Olivia White, may be okay with me still, despite my disappointment at the moment in you, but Lily is raging at you and so is Sirius, and James for that matter" I peeked my eyes open in sheer terror. "Yes, Peter told them what he saw. I however, managed to get him to keep the bit about you nearly admitting your undying love to himself, for a price" the fact that she shivered after telling me that information didn't escape my notice. "But it seems that your boyfriend has been bragging about your interest in him to Sirius and James, so me helping you was pointless after all. You are on your own with this from now Ollie, so you better either buck up your ideas about lying, or get used to dirty looks for the rest of the year from them three as they ain't happy one bit. Sirius especially. You know how he gets."

My eyes remained peeking out at her throughout her whole monologue. I saw the look of sadness in her eyes over my predicament but that wasn't enough to hide the sheer disappointment and anger that was radiating off every pore in her body. It was crystal clear that I had hurt her by lying to her about Severus and even worse, no doubt planked her in it with Sirius also. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Sirius hated Severus and if he ever found out Lexi so much as even had an inkling about me and him, he would be raging. Inhumanly so in fact. I hung my head in shame as I brought the covers up to hide my face. I couldn't bare looking at her any more. I heard heels stomp across the floor once more followed by a slam of a door and I knew then, that she couldn't bare to look at me at the moment either.

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

It would have only taken me mere moments to of cleaned my costume and shoes with magic, but with the rage I was feeling I knew I needed something to curb my temper. So I relented to doing it the Muggle way. Something the majority of my fellow Slytherins would more than frown upon, but I was positive than none of them had ever had happen to them, which had happened to me last night.

_White_ had indeed emptied her stomach over my legs and shoes, but that wasn't the worse point of my night. The internal struggle I had felt before that over whether or not to comfort her was definitely a low point for me. _How I could let my defences down and comfort a Gryffindor of all people?_ Even one so delectable and interesting as White, was beyond frustrating. I felt highly disappointed in myself and even could go as far as blaming myself for White vomiting on me. To me it was my punishment for going against my morals. To top off that wonderful memory, I had marched angrily all the way back to my dorm room only to find that someone had magically painted '_Severus hearts Filch_' all over the walls with little hearts, and had placed photos of the disgusting caretaker on my bedside table as well as one of his mops in my bed. To say I was disgusted and boiling with rage over this would be the understatement to all understatements. That was when I had decided that I could either march up to Gryffindor tower and murder Black and Potter as the slept smugly and get sent to Azkaban, or bite my morals over Muggle ways and unleash my rage into cleaning myself up. I reluctantly decided on the latter as I knew there were much better ways in torturing Black and Potter than a rage filled killing.

I felt my heart rate rise considerably just recalling last night. Even as I looked around now at the still visible words on the walls I felt my blood boil. _How dare they break into my private quarters and decimate my belongings and personal space with lies!_ Of course, I had shown Slughorn the moment I had found it which only led to him telling me he would investigate into the matter, but was reluctant to as he assumed it had to be a fellow Slytherin as no other house could know our password. I, on the other hand, knew it was Potter and Black. Password or no password, they had been in here and I knew it and I was more than set on their revenge after the humiliation they had caused me. Walking through the deserted school covered in White's vomit was one thing, but rumours that I was in love with Filch spreading about like wildfire was another thing entirely.

I sighed deeply as I dropped my head into my cupped hands. _White_. _She was another problem_. I knew myself that regardless of her actions last night, I still felt something for her. Something akin to what I had once thought I had felt for Lily. She certainly had her drawbacks, but I was more than positive after what had happened last night that I was deeply committed to her. _Love? _That was a word I didn't understand in the slightest. But I certainly knew I had thought of her naked more than just a handful of times, not including the times I had used the image of her to _clean my wand, _or so to speak. Something in my chest alighted every time she was near me. It was beyond the realms of only fascination now. It took her display of emesis for me to see that. If it had been any other female, or indeed person, who had done what she had done, then I would of certainly hexed them into St. Mungo's without as mush as a passing thought. We were secluded and cut off from prying eyes and I could have hexed her without no-one ever knowing it was me. But I didn't. I found that the only response I had felt from her embarrassing display was that of concern, and that scared me more than anything. I knew I had to flee the situation before I lost the control I usually had over my emotions and did something ridiculously silly. And flee I did.

I stood from my position on my bed and walked towards the far end of my room. _Emotions? _I thought_._ I was more than positive that she had been trying to tell me something before her little incident. It was something important from the tone of her usually sarcastic voice. I just knew then, that along with my main objection of the week being revenge on Black and Potter, I needed to also find out what White had been about to say. _What words would of caused __**my**__ Olivia to sound so serious? _Now that was a mystery in itself.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

_Breathe. Breathe Olivia. Everyone doesn't know. Just your closest friends, and they hate your guts for it. Just breathe._

My mantra wasn't working as well as I had hoped it would. I was still finding myself jumping at every look someone in my dorm would shoot at me as though they were mentally torturing me. If I believed that seventeen year olds could know Occlumency, then I would definitely not think myself crazy, but in this case, I most certainly was. No-one had dared even to acknowledge my presence after Lexi's warning/rant yesterday morning. I half expected Sirius to smash the doors in to the girls dormitory to get to me more than a handful of times last night, but luckily, he didn't. Not even Lily had showed any interest in me. Apparently I was only good enough now to be shot dirty looks at while getting bitched about to her two new found best friends; Alice and what's her name, some black haired girl from the other seventh year girls dorm that I had never liked. She seemed to be enjoying herself with them more than she had ever had with me and Lexi, that was something I was definitely sure of. We must of not been shallow enough for her it seems.

Anyway, I was allowed to live my hangover out in peace, which I was more than thankful for, but I had a feeling that was all going to change today. Classes were today, which meant I had to, at some point at least, see people outside of my bedroom and talk with them about more than who was using the bathroom first. Now, there is a lot of people I could do without talking to for a very very long time; Sirius and Severus sharing top spot on my list. There are many embarrassing things I can recover from, but hurling over the guy I am totally in love with is not one of them. Throw in my fear of confrontations and Sirius' legendary off the rail anger issues, and today was sure to be one of the worst days of my life. I took one step out of the door and firmly retraced my steps back in. _Forget about it. Its a long lie in and the hospital wing with menstrual cramps for me today!_

And so I lay, and waited like a yellow necked chicken, for any stragglers to clear the common room and for breakfast to start before I quickly and quietly made my way out my room and down to the common room and out through the portrait hole. I sighed in relief at not being jumped by anyone before making my way down to the hospital wing. I thought about what might be going through my friends heads at the moment as they took in Peters retelling of what he saw Saturday night. Every time I ran it through my mind it ended with Sirius murdering Severus, which wasn't exactly a good out turn. _For all I knew he could be six feet under by now! I mean maybe I wasn't confronted yesterday as they had already confronted Severus and buried him under the Whomping Willow?_ I nibbled nervously on my finger nails as I continued making my way down the many flights of stairs. _What would Severus say if they did confront him? He doesn't know I like him, so would he just say how much I have been annoying him recently? Oh Merlin, I really hope he doesn't find me that annoying._ I sighed heavily as I reached the third floor.

"Olivia. I need to speak to you..."

I stopped chewing my nails as I turned round and stared doe eyed at the sight of Remus Lupin strolling towards me with a look of concern.

"Wha-what do you want?" I stuttered out as I tried to calm my jelly like legs. I grabbed onto the banister for support as I awaited a stern telling off from yet another one of my friends. I had never got on the wrong side of Remus before, so was hesitant if his kind heartedness extended into his anger or if he was one of those who bottled everything up and just exploded like Sirius. I was praying for the former.

"Olivia, I just wanted to say first that I'm not angry and am not here to shout at you" his sincere words made my shaking hands steady slightly as I managed out the smallest of smiles at him, causing him to smile back at me before slowly continuing. "Peter told us what he apparently saw, and I just want to say that I think it is very kind of you to extend a hand of friendship to Severus" I blinked a few times as my mind struggled to absorb his words. _Was he great full I was talking to Severus? What the hell?_ "I know I may not see eye to eye with him, or his friends, but not everyone is as bad as people think, and sometimes people just need a friend to show them that. I think its very patient of you to offer your hand to him when he is struggling most" he cast his eyes to the floor as his voice lowered somewhat, "not everybody can see past the stigmas some people carry"

"Remus...I...ehm, what?" I laughed nervously as my eyes darted to and from his face for some sign that this was a trap. A lure of some sort to get me to spill the beans on what actually happened.

"Sorry" he laughed lightly as he hugged his school bag tighter to his chest, "got a bit overly sentimental there. All I meant was that you shouldn't need to hide from people just for speaking to someone from a different house"

I smiled confidently at him now as I realised that Remus couldn't hurt a fly, no matter how angry he was. "Well as relieved as I am that you don't plan to kill me, that doesn't solve my problem of the others. Lexi is in a right tiff over it all, Lily is firmly ignoring me as she seems to think I have betrayed her trust after what he did to her in fifth year, and Merlin knows what Sirius is doing. No doubt plotting my demise as of this moment" I sighed heavily as my suspicious eyes darted around the empty corridors as though expecting Sirius to jump out at any moment and shoot me up with Veritaserum. Unlikely but still, I wouldn't put anything past him.

"Well I can't speak for them, but I am sure it will all blow over soon. I mean its not the biggest crime is it?" His tone was light and airy as he tried his best to reassure me, but I couldn't escape the look of utter sorrow and knowing in his eyes. He knew Lily wasn't ever going to forgive me and that Sirius was going to do something ridiculously stupid when he finally got his hands on me, or worse, Severus. _The question was, when exactly that might happen?_ I shot Remus one more small smile before I continued my way down to the Hospital Wing. My mind more set on hiding away today than ever.

* * *

"Menstrual cramps, Miss White, can be solved from one sip of this potion, so I propose you stop your over acting and take it, as there is no way that you will be staying in here any longer"

I frowned at Madam Hurley as I applied the puppy dog eyes on further and doubled over as I rubbed my stomach in pain. I knew it was a long shot trying to get her to let me crash here for the day as she was mostly a '_potions solves all_' sort of nurse, and not exactly known for bedside manners either.

I saw her roll her eyes at my feeble attempt of acting before she began stomping away rubbing her temple. "Poppy, see to this one will you as she is causing me a migraine"

I smiled triumphantly at my luck as Madam Hurley's young nurse in training came over and smiled pitifully at me. She was a sucker for an unfortunate story and would believe anything you told her. If ever I was in luck, it was today.

"What's wrong dear? You feeling under the weather?" she soothed as she rubbed my arm up and down as I nodded a mere yes in reply.

"I've got really bad cramp and I don't like taking potions much" I squeaked out as a sniffled a little for added effect. "You think it would be possible if I could get a sick note and stay here for the day until I feel better?" I rubbed my stomach again as I closed my eyes as though I was in dreadful pain.

The junior nurse put her arms round my shoulders as she began leading me off to a bed. "Of course dear. I shall send a note to all your Professors now. You just lie down here and I will bring you a hot water bottle to make you feel better"

I smiled gratefully back up at her. "Thank you"

She nodded once in acceptance before rushing away into the office to which Madam Hurley had just disappeared into moments before. _Bet the old toad will be raging when she comes out and finds me still here_, I thought as I smiled gleefully. _Serves her right in the first place_. I sighed heavily as I snuggled into the soft mattress and finally let myself relax. If there was one thing I could count on Madam Hurley doing right, it was to not let anyone visit someone in the Hospital Ward unless they had been asked. She was a stickler for rules at times so she was, which I was more than great full for at this moment in time.

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

To say that I had not been looking forward to seeing Olivia in Potions would have been right this morning, but the moment I had walked into the Potions classroom just before lunch and found her missing and not just late, I immediately felt my heart sink. It seems that even though I wished to avoid discussion of Saturday night with her, I missed her charm and presence next to me all the more. It was a burden to work through class today without her. I found I had missed her little questions and how much she really did help me sometimes, whether it was just being the ingredient collector and nothing else. This unfortunately led to my first ever messing up of a potion. Part of me blames Olivia for unknowingly consuming my thoughts and making me loose concentration, but the intellect in me knew it was absurd to place blame on anyone but myself for daydreaming when I shouldn't have been. I made quick work of bottling my slightly off coloured potion hoping to leave class as soon as possible and to forget that today had ever happened.

"Severus, can I have a word please" Slughorn called to me just as I was leaving my desk. I refrained from sighing as I turned my full attention to my head of house just as the last remaining student left the classroom, leaving only him and I behind.

"Yes sir?"

"Severus, I was wondering if you knew where Miss White was today? Its not like her to just skip a potions class" His tone was concerned as he pondered over his own question. I knew he was right to wonder where she was, as although she was almost always late, she never missed a class. I too had been wondering about her absence all during class, hence my ruined _Draught Of Living Death_ potion.

"No sir, I do not"

"Hmm, well if you see..." Slughorn trailed off just as a paper plane whizzed past him and landed just behind him on top of his appallingly messy desk. He reached in between his many photographs of sickeningly sweet smiling Witches and Wizards, and opened the folded parchment before sweeping his tiny bead like eyes over it once, and looking up to address me once more. "It seems Miss White is in the hospital wing feeling a little under the, ehm...weather"

I noticed the slight uneasiness in his tone which caused my eyebrows to furrow together slightly in concentration. _Was their something else he wasn't saying? Had something happened to her?_ I tightened my hold on my satchel. "Is everything alright with her sir? Is she okay?"

He shook his head before chuckling slightly. "Yes yes my boy, she's fine" he smiled once at me before becoming slightly flustered looking, "Actually, if you wouldn't mind Severus, would you be able to drop in on her and pass along a copy of the notes you have made for class today? Madam Hurley has insisted upon each Professor seeing to it that she doesn't fall behind because of her absence today"

I internally grumbled at the prospect of missing lunch should Olivia decide to discuss anything with me, but accepted anyway hoping that maybe after seeing her that my concentration would return to full for use in the remainder of my days classes. "Of course Professor"

I nodded once and left. My feet stomping over the stoned floor as the first hint of the emotion called _nervousness_ riddled its way into my system at the prospect of coming face to face with the captivating, but bewildering girl, that was Olivia White.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: Period Pain, And Other Pains In The Ass: Part Two

_**Olivia's POV**_

_Okay, so this idea seemed well better in my head_ I thought idly as I sat counting the tiles on the stone floor for the sixth time that morning. I had just assumed that today would be like the last time I had played a sickie and spent my day in the hospital wing; full of sleep and people watching. But it wasn't. It was boring, exceptionally so, and it was dragging. Dragging like a snail riding on a turtles back. I had checked my watch three times in the last hour and it had only moved five minutes. _Five bloody snooze festing minutes!_ I was literally dying of boredom in here, oh and starvation. Having skipped breakfast and just came here expecting to sleep soundly until lunch, my belly was literally roaring like that of a caged animal. I swear the small second year boy in the bed across from me was flinching away from my presence in case I was actually going to eat him in a minute. Smother him in sauce and stick him in a bun. _Hmm... Ahh, I just feel more hungry now!_ I shot my _lunch_ a scowling look which he flinched and hid under the covers from, before turning my gaze to that of the window to my right and huffed in anger.

The reason I hadn't been able to sleep was because my mind just wouldn't shut off. Every time I closed my eyes I was either confronted with Lexi's betrayed looking face, Remus' heartfelt one, Sirius' mudersome glare or worse of all, Severus' look of hatred and disgust before he stormed off Saturday night. Throw in Pomfrey checking on me every two minutes to try and persuade me to take some horrid smelling potion that my dad would reluctantly let me make sometimes if I moaned enough to him, and I had got at least one hours shut eye since eight this morning, and it was past midday. I grumbled in annoyance as I caught sight of Madam Pomfrey tending to a fourth year girl near the door. Her head was bright red and her lips were swollen. I didn't have a clue what she had, but lets just say I was extremely happy that she was a good ten beds away from my being. I faintly heard the door open but didn't bother to look as I just assumed it was Madam _Hurley Burley _back from her own lunch. Her liquid one more like it, as she practically secreted the aroma of _Daisyroot Draught_ at all times. I looked up suddenly as a commotion caught my attention.

"Sorry but visiting times are not until this evening" Pomfrey stated firmly to whoever had just entered the door. My attention was slowly slipping again when I realised it was most likely the _lobster _girls boyfriend or something trying to see her.

"Sorry but Professor Slughorn told me to bring Miss White her Potions notes and see how she was doing" The tone was calm and stoic, and immediately made me feel rigid like someone had just poured ice water all over my aching limbs. _What in Merlin's name was he doing here! Can't a girl hide in this huge castle in peace any more?_

"Oh I see. Well be as quick as you can please as she will be wanting her rest" My heart thundered at every footstep as he came closer and closer. _What the hell was I going to say?_ I felt my throat close up as I fought back the urge to regurgitate nonsense at him the moment he addressed me._ I cant let myself look more brain dead to him. _Then again, his opinion of me was probably pretty low now after my previous regurgitating experience, how much worse could it get?

He stopped at the foot of my bed as I lay still on my side and refused to look directly at him. "Slughorn asked me to bring you these" he walked over to the little table beside me and placed a few neatly scribbled sheets on it before standing still. Silence washed over us as he began fiddling with his hands. _Was he nervous? I don't think I had ever seen Severus nervous before in my life!_ _And here he was before me, his fingers interlacing as they nervously circled each other._

"Thanks" I mumbled as I began to sit up. I clocked Pomfrey staring at us just as I began scrunching my face up slightly, trying in vain to keep up my pathetic act of bad cramps. Why I hadn't just lay in bed until McGonagall came and ushered me out to class was beyond me. I say its because my mind doesn't work well under stress or any earlier than midday, which none of my body seems to, come to think of it.

"Are you okay?" Once again concern laced his words like it had Saturday night and I couldn't help but blush.

"Yeah, its just the ehm..._painters are in_" I hissed out slightly embarrassed. He cocked his head to the side in confusion which only caused me to redden further at having to now explain in more detail. "Aunt Flow?" His brows knitted further together still. _My God, why did I have to put myself in this position, and I wasn't even on them! _I sighed heavily. "I'm on my periods and have excruciatingly bad cramp combined with a two day old hangover, hence why I'm in here"

His cheeks flushed to match mine as he shuffled on the spot seemingly unsure as to what to respond back with. After a few minutes of silence he decided on, "Oh, I understand", before becoming stoic and silent once more.

I felt the unease I had been feeling when he had first come in dispense slightly after that. It was almost as though nothing I could say now could be more awkward than explaining _that_ to him. I smiled somewhat with that reassurance under my belt. "So was Potions hard today?"

His eyes met mine briefly before looking to that of the window across from him. "None more than usual. Would have been nice to have had an extra hand to help cut the ingredients though"

My smile widened. "You missed me then did you? Here was me thinking you couldn't wait to be rid of me too!"

"I wouldn't quite put it that way, but yes, I have grown used to your company if you must know" He sounded somewhat defensive and his cheeks still held a rather pinky glow to them as he spoke.

"Well then, I shall admit that I like your company also. Its...different..."

"Thanks for the compliment" he said as he stared me down. His composure was more relaxed than before, even if he was slightly growling at me at the moment.

"I didn't mean it that way! It's just your different somehow than the others and like different things than most of the people I know. Similar things to me actually. I like it" I smiled sweetly up at him before frowning somewhat at knowing I had to ruin the moment as always and bring up the past. I just couldn't help it, it was a bad habit of mine to bring up everything even if it didn't ever need to be mentioned again. "Look, I'm sorry about Saturday. I had a little too much to drink which isn't always good and well, you just happened to see the consequences of that. Sorry, just had to apologise there. It was killing me..."

He sighed heavily before sitting down on the bed across from me and crossing his arms. "You should be more careful of what you drink in the future" he paused for a moment before continuing, "I, on the other hand, shouldn't have just walked off and left you. I..._apologise_ for that"

I sat staring at him wide eyed for a moment as I let his apology sink in. _Severus Snape said I'm sorry, and to me! No-one else, but me!_ Despite the fact that he had bit out the two small words like they were physically hurting him to utter aloud, I felt like I had won a prize or something at the fair I was that elated! "Did you just apologise? To me, yeah? Like actually?"

He rolled his eyes at me before nodding a sharp _yes_ in reply. It seems there was no way he was going to repeat himself then, I shall just need to cherish this apology for forever as it was only a one time thing.

"Merlin I think I am dreaming!" I laughed aloud as I brought my hand up to feel my forehead. "I must be more sick than I had thought. Do I feel feverish to you?"

"Yes yes, extremely funny" He hissed at me as his eyes darkened. "If we can just get past the mockery now and move onto when you will be returning back to class so I can leave"

I pouted at his sharp words. "Aww please don't go. Pomfrey seems to have disappeared now and I am bored out my skull in here alone. Nothing but _burger boy_ and _lobster girl _over there to amuse me, and they ain't exactly super talkative"

"Well if you had used your head then you would of realised by now that if you just took a few drops of the simple _Musculus Laxus potion_, you would have been able to attend class today like everyone else and not be sat here, bored and lonely" he stated matter of factly. I rolled my eyes at him for not knowing I was only bored and lonely as I was faking cramps and hiding from my friends, well mostly Sirius really. As awkward as I had imagined this conversation being, the one with Sirius would just be horrid. Plus, the confrontation with Severus was nowhere near as bad as I had expected. His shock apology had a lot to do with that however, not in a million years had I expected him to do that of all things!

"Well if you must know I am actually hiding from reality, and boredom apparently is my punishment" I huffed as I crossed my arms across my stomach as it rumbled loudly. "And hunger also it seems"

Severus' lips curved slightly in a small smile. "You weren't by any chance hiding from me where you? Embarrassed where we?"

I blushed slightly. "No..." his eyes stared at mines unblinkingly causing me to snap my head away from his gaze as it was making my head feel odd and heavy. "Fine I was. I was humiliated after Saturday and thought you would hate me" I huffed out before quietly adding, "I'm also hiding from Sirius if you must know as he terrifies me"

His face dropped as he asked rather bluntly, "Why?"

"Because apparently being seen with you makes everyone either not want to be seen with me in return, or want to murder me, or murder us both. Either way, your not a very popular man to be seen with" I noticed his shoulders become tight and strained as his eyes darkened. "Not that it bothers me, I wont change my views for no-one. But I have a slight fear of confrontation, hence the hiding in here part from certain people..."

He looked at me oddly for a moment before a voice shouted causing him to turn away. My line of sight following after his.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

I slapped my hand to my face as Sirius Black marched in the hospital wing with a tray of food. _Trust my luck, I make amends with one only to be confronted with the other. Could only happen to me I swear!_

"The last time I checked, I was visiting a patient which is perfectly allowed" Severus' tone was calm as he didn't even flinch a muscle at Sirius' harsh words.

"Well she doesn't want you here so leave, before you end up in the bed next to her, or worse, six feet under" I widened my eyes at how fast things were getting heated between the two as I noticed Severus had his wand drawn as did Sirius, the tray of food now long forgotten at the foot of the bed Severus was sitting against a moment ago.

"Is that a threat _Black_? I would watch your words as you don't have your pack of strays with you this time to watch your back"

"As if I would need anyone to help me take down a slime ball like you!" Sirius hissed venomously, his whole body rigid and tense, just waiting for a moment to hex Severus into the ground. I decided now was the best time to speak before one of them decided to obliviate the other.

"Calm it down will you! You are acting like children, the two of you" I drew each of them a dirty look which they both either chose to ignore, or were so caught up death glaring at each other that they had forgot I was actually still there. I sighed as I made my way out of bed and stood between them, Sirius' eyes now focusing squarely on me.

"What the hell is he doing here talking to you? Again I might add! I swear if he is hassling you I will-"

"No!" I hissed as I grabbed his wand raised arm, "you wont be doing anything" He glared at me before yanking his hand out of mine and shooting daggers at a no doubt smirking Severus behind me. "Put your wand away will you before you hurt yourself" A small huff of laughter came from behind me causing me to turn around and glare at Severus also. "You too Mister! The both of you are over reacting"

"Over reacting? Really?" Sirius scoffed as he flicked some hair out of his eyes in an extremely flamboyant way, even for him. "He doesn't seem to be able to understand simple English and can't keep from pestering you, either that or he just loves getting his ass kicked. Either way, he cant take a telling and I wont apologize for making him see sense"

"And he wont be taking a telling ever, not from you anyway" I stared straight up into Sirius' grey slitted eyes as my resolve finally kicked in. I wasn't going to lie to anyone any more, and nor should I for that fact! "He isn't pestering me at all, in fact, I'm probably the one pestering him I ramble on and on at him that often. He must be sick of my voice by now"

"What are you going on about now Ollie?" The tall dark haired figure that stood before me looked at a total loss. It was clear meeting Severus in here was the last place he expected to see him, and my words had clearly confused him into a dazed stupor.

I took a deep breath as I held on to my little bit of courage with dear life. "I'm saying that I want to be friends with Severus Snape and nothing you say or do is going to make me feel any different towards him"

"But...but..." he breathed out as his hands hung limp at his sides. He looked behind me for a split second before flying past me with his fists raised like a wild animal. "This is your doing you slimy bastard! What the hell have you done to her? What have you said to make her be nice to you?"

"Sirius! Sirius calm down! Stop it!" I cried as I tried to stop him before he strangled Severus to death.

"_Ventus!_" Sirius flew past me faster than a bolt of lightening. I felt my hair whip behind me as cold air blew at my face. Severus' face was dead panned as he stared past me and to the red faced Sirius who was now just starting to regain his footing. I knew this was going to lead into a duel if I didn't step in, and fast.

"_Sectumsem_-"

"_Expelliarmus!_" I all but shouted as I aimed my wand right at Sirius' already raised one, his mouth open as I cut him off mid-spell. I didn't know exactly what that spell was supposed to do, but I had a feeling it wasn't a _flower growing hex_, that was for sure. I continued to stare at his flabbergasted expression, my wand still raised as his own wand lay abandoned now at my feet. Many emotions were running through me as I stood, poised and angry at my friend, the boy I had just defended no doubt smirking behind my back in glee. Anger was definitely a head runner but was closely tied in with guilt and disappointment. _How could I defend someone who hardly even interacts with me against a friend? A close friend at that!_ I felt tears nip at my eyes as the sound of rushed footsteps filled the room.

"You drop your wand right now Missy!" _Hurley Burley's_ voice shouted at me as she rushed between the three of us and all but manually forced me to lower my right arm. My cheeks were wet by now as silent angry tears rolled down my face freely. I faintly heard her chide Sirius and Severus, before we were all forced out of the Hospital Wing and down the corridor, Madam Hurley hot on our heels as she pushed us ahead.

"Duelling in the Hospital Ward, you three should be ashamed!" she spoke out to none of us in particular as she continued to hustle us along, "I told Poppy not to be so sympathetic towards you as you always bring trouble, but she just had to be nice and fall for your shameful act. Will knock some sense into her yet so I will. The day she stops listening to all your silly whining is the day she will be able to run this wing like clockwork!" she continued rambling on about this and that and how disappointed she was in us all. I zoned her out however, as I stumbled along behind the two dark haired boys before me, who were currently walking as though someone had stuck sticks up their asses. It was clear they were trying their very best not to lunge at each other here and now and roll around on the floor like a couple of testosterone filled idiots. _Oh wait, that is exactly what they were; idiots!_ "Right, up you go and we shall see what Professor Dumbledore has to say about your behaviour"

If my skin could go any whiter, it had. Not once had I ever been sent to Dumbledore's office for anything. Not even my tardiness, which was a large recurring problem with me. I gulped hard as I shakingly wiped some of the tear tracks off my face, my mascara no doubt clouding round my eyes and making it obvious to everyone that I had been balling my eyes out like an over emotional female. Which I usually wasn't. Ever.

Stone Gargoyles moved to unveil a long winding staircase which Sirius immediately stepped on like he was walking the steps to his own home. They instantly started moving upwards before Hurley nudged me into Severus causing us both to flop onto the staircase and travel upwards. My stomach did back flips all the way up until we stopped at a large mahogany door. Our _escort_ knocked twice before it opened wide, revealing a large open planned office room. Once again Sirius needed no introduction or welcome before he strolled inside, part of his natural swagger back as his anger seemed to have resided slightly since the beginning of our walk ten minutes ago. I gazed around in fear at the bookcase lined walls and the condescending portraits of deranged looking elderly people who seem to be staring right through us.

"Ah Wanda, what brings you and your three guests here today?"

The voice seemed to come out of nowhere causing me to turn and search for the source before I spotted the very familiar sight of an elderly white haired man walking towards the large parchment strewn desk before us. His tone was light and amused as his bright sky coloured eyes looked over us all in a comforting manner almost. Either way, it was enough to ease the tension in my stomach as my arms relaxed slightly at my sides, and my posture slumped to something that resembled a normal human being and not a stick insect.

"Sorry to barge in on you like this Headmaster, but I have just caught these three here duelling in the Hospital Wing" the Matron hissed out at the kindly headmaster as though she were biting her tongue slightly. I had the unfortunate experience of hearing the foul language she was capable of so had a good idea of what she _really_ had wanted to say about us disturbing her ward, and it wasn't pretty at all. Or very lady -like for that matter.

Dumbledore smiled slightly at this news before nodding at Hurley to leave. "Thank you for bringing them to me Wanda. You may go back to your patients now and I shall see to them"

'_Wanda_' nodded a curt goodbye at the Headmaster before shooting us all a rather terrifying death glare and tottering out the door and back to hassle her sickly company once more. I shuffled on the spot nervously as I realised it was just us and Dumbledore now. Sirius was leaning casually on one of the armchairs in front of the desk as Severus stood rigid and silent before me.

"How nice of you to visit me again so soon Mr. Black" Dumbledore smiled at Sirius who just rolled his eyes back at him. "Mr. Snape it has been a while since I have seen you, but I have to say Miss. White I don't recall you ever having visited me before"

I wasn't sure if it was a question or not, so I continued to stand where I stood and just shrug my shoulders slightly in awkward agreement.

"She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him! None of us would have if he had just kept his big greasy nose to himself"

"Thank you for your opinion Mr. Black, but I would like to hear Miss. White's account of things please" his sparkling orbs met mine as he conjured up two armchairs next to the one Sirius had now taken residency upon. "Please sit and tell me what happened"

I smiled meekly in return to his kind smile before shakingly taking my place in the orange coloured winged back chair inches away from his desk and smack in the middle of Sirius and Severus, my two biggest headaches at the moment. He nodded once at me causing me to take a deep breath and wipe my eyes in hopes of composing myself enough to speak. "Well I was ehm, in the Hospital wing as I wasn't...wasn't feeling too well this morning and Sev-Severus," I beat down the internal urge to look at him and see his expression, "he came, well he came and dropped off my potions homework" I looked down at my fiddling hands, the absurd mental note of me reminding myself to paint my scuffed fingernails later passing through my mind before I took another deep breath and continued once more. "Sirius then appeared and started well, shouting at Severus for being there and...things...and-and then they just started fighting! I couldn't let them murder each other, so I disarmed Sirius with my wand right before Bur-, I mean Madam Hurley came in"

Silence followed for about two seconds before Sirius' voice cut through it like a blade.

"I wouldn't of been shouting at him if he had just listened to what I had told him and stayed away from you like he should, and-"

"You threatened him to stay away from me?" I angrily turned to Sirius who was still wearing the same flabbergasted expression since before, "How dare you warn anyone away from me! Your not my keeper Sirius Black and certainly not my Father, so you have no right what so ever" I crossed my arms over my chest as I huffed in an attempt to curve my anger. I was reminded that we were sat in front of Dumbledore as his gaze continually kept passing between the three of us and I didn't want to loose my cool and make the whole situation any worse for myself than it already was.

"Severus do you have anything to say on the matter? You seem to be rather quiet over there"

My gaze turned to my left where Severus was just sitting and staring ahead at nothing in particular as though he was watching a dot of dust float by. I felt the need to reach out and touch his hand, in a reassuring and comforting manner, build up inside me but I tried my best to restrain it, knowing it would only make matters worse between Sirius and I. Raging and upset at him or not, I didn't want to upset him any more than I already had. Not deliberately at least anyway.

"It was me and Black who were arguing and fighting and not Olivia" Severus suddenly said. His voice was low and steady as his eyes were still trained on the spot before them.

Dubledore chuckled slightly which caused me to look up at him bewildered for a moment. _Did he find expelling people funny? I sure as hell hope not as detentions I could handle, getting booted out on my ear without finishing my education I could not._ I immediately started chewing on the nails on my right hand through nerves.

"As serious as the matter is that you three were using magic against each other, I understand the reasons behind how it started" My eyebrows raised in astonishment almost to meet my hairline. "However, punishment is still necessary to teach you each to control your emotions in the future and not let them get the better of you. Especially you Mr. Black" Sirius made an incoherent reply which either Dumbledore didn't hear or chose to ignore, "You each therefore will have to attend detention together with Hagrid in the forest next Saturday. Hopefully a joint detention will bring about some of your joined similarities" I noticed his twinkling eyes resting on me as he spoke which rather unnerved me to say the least, "instead of further highlighting your differences" His features continued to be kind and light throughout his whole_ punishing us_ speech, which I found extremely confusing and unsettling. _Why was he giving us 'all knowing sincere smiles' when he should be boiling with rage at our appalling behaviour in a room full of sick people? Actually, confused doesn't even start to cover it!_

"Can we not do detention separately, like in houses instead of all together? Another fight will just break out and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt" Sirius asked cautiously, eyeing Severus now and again as he spoke. He was annoyed as hell, I could tell by the way his eyes remained slits even as his face strained to remain neutral as he tried to give over the aura of being calm and collected, but failing.

"I trust no-one will be hurting anyone again, so I'm afraid not Sirius" Dumbledore sighed slightly before smiling at my bemused friend. _If we even still were friends that was... _"Even the most stubborn of people need to learn to bend their morals at times in order to succeed in life. The most successful of people are always the ones who can listen as well as direct, remember that Mr. Black"

An uncomfortable silence rested between us all as Dumbledore's words lingered in the air like bizarre words of wisdom. _What was he going on about morals and whatnot for? I swear he is going batty in his old age_, I thought. I sighed heavily as I resented myself to a torturous Saturday with two mortal enemies as the icing to my detention filled week, in a school that apparently was run by an escapee of St. Mungo's.

Life was bliss, as per usual.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: A Little Outside Help

"I still can't believe you disarmed him, him off all people!" Lexi hissed out almost to herself as she shook her head, her hand flicking through the pages of the large book before her more forcefully than needed.

"Well I did. I couldn't just let them duel it out in the Hospital Wing could I?" I huffed out, my eyes not leaving the page I was scanning in fear I would lose my place, "Besides, its not as though I could of just asked them to stop and they would. They are both stubborn mules!"

Lexi sighed heavily next to me before pushing the book she was reading away from her and slumping over the desk slightly. "But still Olivia, disarming him? Couldn't you have just shouted at him or hit him? Or disarm Snape even? You know Sirius' pride will never let him live this down"

I scoffed loudly. "If you ask me his pride needs brought down a peg or two. His ego could rival that of Heathcliffe Rogers from the Dancing Mermaids!" Lexi seemed rather unimpressed with my comparison of Sirius to that of the flamboyant big headed lead singer from one of her favourite bands. I lowered my voice slightly as I continued, "And it was Sirius who attacked Severus so he was the one who needed calming down and not the other way round"

"Ugh, because _Severus_ is so perfect that he would never dare hurt anyone intentionally would he?" my friend snapped loudly back at me causing a few of the other students in the Library to look over in our direction.

"I never said that" I stated firmly as I slitted my eyes in her direction. She sighed deeply before lowering her head to rest against the hard mahogany desk before us.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be so bitchy" she let out another frustrating sigh as my face relaxed and I offered her a small smile, pushing my own book away from me and leaning against my arms as they lay propped up on the desk. "Sirius hates me now Olivia and I don't know what to do"

I frowned deeply at my friends words before placing a comforting hand on her back. "I'm sure he doesn't hate you Lexi. You know what he is like when he is in one of his moods, takes it out on everyone so he does"

"Its more than that though. He thinks I'm hiding things from him concerning you and Severus and blames all this on me. Its not like I don't know anything, but you're my best friend and as much as I don't approve, its not my place to tell him is it?" she sighed again before closing her eyes in annoyance.

I rubbed my hand in comforting circles as my mind drifted off on how I was going to fix this. _How could he possibly get angry at Lexi for something that was clearly my fault, and my fault alone? So what if she didn't tell him all that I had told her? If I had wanted him to know I would of came and told him myself. Nosy sod._ I huffed aloud, sounding very much like a horse, as I tried my best to stop getting angry at him and try and make him and Lexi happy again instead. _I needed to get him and Lexi back together, they were made for each other for Merlin's sake!_

"Don't worry Lex, Everything will be back to the way it was in no time" I smiled out at her. She sighed back in response before shaking her head and trolling though another five foot book as though she didn't have a care in the world. I felt my smile widen knowing that although she clearly blamed me for this, she never actually said it aloud and was trying her best not to let it all effect our friendship. Only Lexi could have that much control over a situation, and I was more than overjoyed that she had.

"Strange to see you here Olivia. Studying for once are we?" polite and steady tones came from behind me causing both Lexi and I to jump up in surprise.

"What the-!" I gasped as I held my hand to my chest and shared a wide eyed look with the blonde sitting next to me who looked like her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. "You scared the living daylights out of us Remus!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you two" he chuckled slightly before going and taking a seat across from us. "I have to say though, seeing the sight of you in here gave me quite the scare also"

I frowned at his playful comment before chuckling slightly myself. Remus and I had gotten a lot closer the last few days, something to do with him being the only Marauder' who actually wanted to sit in my company out of choice at the moment. Not that I minded too much though, James was always a little too pompous for my liking, Peter annoyingly creepy, and having to listen to Sirius ranting about our joint detention Saturday every moment I saw him, was starting to wear me down. Lily, on the other hand, I _wanted_ to avoid like the plague if I was honest. She was turning out to be someone I rather hated. One of those snooty, bitchy and full of it girls who paraded about the place like her word was law. No, people like her I could without thanks.

"We were studying for that '_surprise_' test tomorrow in DADA" Lexi said to Remus as she rolled her eyes at the absurdity. The reason it was so absurd was because everyone and their mother knew what the test was on since some idiotic, but brilliant, Hufflepuff _accidentally_ came across the test questions on Professor Uley's desk yesterday after a detention with him. Not that I was complaining though, saved on my studying work load which basically made the idiot a hero in my eyes. Well, until the test was over with that was. No Gryffindor was ever going to be idolizing a Hufflepuff, we were all too stubborn for that.

"Yup, _'surprise'_ test it is" Remus smiled before taking one of the books off the pile he had brought to the table, opening it up at some random page and taking notes faster than I thought was possible. I felt my concentration slipping, and quickly. Not that I was a child who needed to be kept amused every second of the day, but I needed something more than boring note taking and revising to stimulate my brain. What can I say? I get bored easily. Very easily.

I began gazing over the few students perched sporadically around us. It wasn't long after dinner and mostly everyone had either Quidditch practice in preparation for Saturday, or had better things to be doing than sitting in this old and creep place glossing over musty books. I personally wished I had a social life also so I had an excuse not to sit here either. I had another tutoring lesson with Severus, but that wasn't until eight and the time was sure dragging in something terrible. I was actually quite surprised when he had suggested us meeting again after the whole vomiting and hospital duelling incident and all, but he seemed rather set on it. Something I had the feeling was something more to do with irking off Sirius, than actually spending time with me. But who was I too be fussy? I had scared off half my friends and was spending my free time studying for Merlin's sake! Right now I wouldn't even care if someone was forcing him to be spending time with me. It beat having to spend time with anyone else, that was for sure.

I had expected him to act all stand offish and upset over the whole '_me defending him again_' spectacle, but surprisingly, he seemed rather cool with it all. Don't get me wrong, I did get a rather firm telling off about how he could of handled it on his own and not to meddle in the future, but that was that really and we were smooching over the fumes in Potions like normal. Okay, that last bit never actually happened. But we were as close as ever. If you called him being able to cut his gloriously artistic snarky comments down to about ten a day in front of me close, then we were practically inseparable.

"Olivia. Olivia, are you there? Can you here me?"

My eyes glossed over for a second before trying to regain their focus on reality once again. Lexi was roughly shaking my shoulder while Remus was silently laughing at the situation across the table.

"What?" I half mumbled out before looking at them both with the most ugliest confused face ever. "Were you guys saying something as I totally missed it?"

Remus chuckled before smiling softly. "Lexi was just trying to tell you that it was nearly eight o'clock and that you should probably get going if you were to make it down to the dungeons on time"

My eyes enlarged as I glanced at my watch before swearing loudly. Lexi rolled her eyes at me as I slid my chair noisily from the table and started shoving random things into my satchel.

"How did I loose track of the time? It was only like 7pm five minutes ago! He's gonna kill me so he is" I continued rambling on and on to myself, Remus and Lexi sharing some form of begrudgingly accepting look over the whole situation, before I called my goodbyes and fled the Library like my arse was on fire. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" I hissed loudly to myself as I flew down the staircases and finally reached the ground floor ten minutes later. My feet fumbling the last leg of my journey as my legs began burning from the sudden and unexpected exertion they had just been put through. _I really, really need to start doing some exercise_, I thought to myself as I huffed and puffed my way over to the same door we had met at before only to find no-one there.

I immediately leaned myself up against the cold stone wall beside the door before scanning down either end of the hallway for any sign of my dark and wickedly handsome tutor. _Where in Merlin's name are you?_, I thought to myself as I tried my best to regain control over my breathing. My hand wiping sweat from my brow like I had just ran a marathon, which it felt like I had.

"Your five minutes late, as usual" a stoic voice uttered from beside me causing me to fall backwards onto my arse in utter fright. I landed with a firm flop as the sound of my wobbly behind hitting the hard stone floors echoed around us for a moment before I decided to speak over it.

"You would make a great spy by the way. You have the whole undercover super sleuth thing down to a tea"

He raised his eyebrow at me before smirking slightly. His dark onyx eyes swimming with emotion for once instead of black dark tunnels of nothingness. I didn't know what was sexier, not knowing what he was thinking or seeing it all there in one glimpse of his enticing eyes.

"I shall make sure I take note of that opinion in case I ever have the offer"

I smirked back up at him as the sight of him looking very much like James Bond in the From Russia With Love movie filtered through my subconscious. I would be saddened right now that he didn't have the deep sexy Scottish accent to top it all off, but his throaty English tones were more than satisfactory in my books. If not more so than the originals Northern one. I sighed lustfully as I continued my little daydream wondering how I would look in a bikini soaking wet or lying in a bed with nothing but one of Severus' school shirts on, resisting the urge to laugh at how ridiculous I would look as a Bond Girl. Them sorts of things were more suited to Lexi than me.

"Are you still with us or have you lost the ability to walk and talk?" Severus' amused, but slightly annoyed tones, hit my ears causing me to flush slightly at the thought of him possibly knowing what I had been thinking. He stared hard into my eyes for a moment before I broke eye contact swiftly and began righting myself into a standing position once more.

"Right, so what are we brewing today then?" I asked excitedly as I tried to change the subject faster than the new comet broomstick. Severus eyed me suspiciously for a moment before opening our room door and walking past me, me sighing a breath of relief at not being questioned over my heated face and sweaty palms. I was literally squirming I was so heated at the moment.

"I thought we could look over the ingredients for the _Euphoria Inducing Elixir_, before taking notes of how we could change it to make it more successful" he proudly said as though he was teaching more than just me these things. I smiled sweetly none the less as his aura melted my insides and made me feel slightly high as I swayed my way over to the desk he was currently standing at and sat down next to him. "If you can just turn to the page in your book and get the ingredients you have out, I will go set up the cauldron"

I nodded once in reply before fiddling through the multitude of things in my satchel as I tried in vain to find my box of ingredients and my book. My bag wasn't that big, but I had recently charmed it so It could fit everything in it that I needed. Having to lug a thousand and one items around for numerous classes was one of the reasons I always felt like skipping, so thought this would sort it. Sadly it just made everything so much harder to find. "_Accio potions book_" I mumbled, hoping if I knew exactly what I was looking for then it would make things easier.

I heard Severus sigh in annoyance from his extremely short patience, which was no doubt running incredibly thin already. I had caused a few reactions like this from him in my time of knowing him, but it hadn't failed my notice that not as much as everyone else had. It seemed that some people only had to look at the tall slender boy before me, and he would lose his temper and hiss at them like some sort of rattle snake. I took that as a sign that I was almost tolerable in his books.

I finally found all the ingredients that I needed and set them out in front of me on the table before scanning my Potions book over once more. It looked like a relatively quick Potion to brew which left my heart feeling slightly deflated at the thought of cutting our time together down considerably. _Why couldn't we brew the Polyjuice Potion or something and be stuck together for a good month_, I thought before smirking at how Sirius would no doubt do anything to get his hands on a vile of that stuff. _Possibly even tolerate Severus? Nah, I would need to invent them something well more complicated and intriguing than even that!_

"Ready?" dark tones cut through my musings as I turned sharply to the left of me to see Severus perched on the seat beside me, cauldron lit and ready in front of us. _Wow did he move fast. I wonder if he was as talented in other areas as he was in Potions..._

I replied with a brightly lit smile, which looked as though he bit back from rolling his eyes at, before he indicated to the scribbled page in his copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"I thought we could try a few alternative ingredients and mixing methods to see if anything happens. I've tried a few out myself, with positive results, but wondered if you might have anything to add to the table?" he gazed me over with a look that said; _I seriously doubt so however_. Before turning back to his overly worn book. "Lets start with the base then. Do you have enough heather roots and shrivelfig?"

I nodded without checking knowing that I had restocked my whole supply of ingredients earlier that day in excitement for this class. Even though I had given up on flirting with him, for the moment, I was still determined not to upset him in anyway and get as close as I could, to what I would call his soul. Other people, no doubt, thought he didn't have one. Lexi certainly didn't anyways. I frowned momentarily at the thought of her still disliking my choices before smiling once again. This time it didn't reach my eyes however.

I turned around to see Severus studying me slightly, his eyes casting a look over me as though he knew what I was thinking and was trying to read deeper. I shivered slightly before shaking myself. _How could he know what I was thinking? What is he Sherlock Holmes now also?_ I smiled somewhat brighter as I concluded that he did have the sociopath personality in common with the detective, well traits as you will anyways. I swallowed loudly when I realised how I found them qualities to be attractive in Severus. _Merlin, I'm definitely in the weirdo bandwagon now_, I thought before I sighed.

"I assume you are focussed enough for this Potion, yes?" I knew it was his way of asking if I was alright, so I smiled up at him shyly before nodding out a slow yes. If Severus thought me strange now, Merlin knows what he would think of me if he knew what crazy thoughts ran through my head in his presence. Once again the knowing that no seventeen year old could possibly know Oclumency was only slightly comforting.

* * *

_**Snape's POV**_

I watched how her red mane of frazzled hair bobbed about her face as she scribbled furiously away in her potions book, her page more closely resembling mine now that what it had an hour ago before we had started. Her hand writing was much more messy than my own, something similar to chicken scratch some might say, but I felt it fit her perfectly._ She was never one to stay between the lines, so why should her writing be any different?_

There was something different about her tonight. Something had changed in our dynamic since Mondays events, and I wasn't quite sure what. I felt myself be less guarded around her, the way I had been with Lily, only different somewhat. More genuine and friendly than with I had towards the other red head. It was strange how I now referred to Lily as that now, there was a time I had wallowed in self pity at myself for ruining our acquaintance when now I was more than glad that it was over. I had seen the way she had treated Olivia the past few days and realised that it was the same way she had treated me two years ago. One mistake and you were blanked, ignored and immediately replaced with someone else. I wasn't an expert in relationships, but I was more than certain that someone who was meant to be your friend was not supposed to treat you like that.

I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Olivia once more to see her pouting. Her lips were stuck out like that of a child as she tapped her fingers across the wooden desk in what would normally be annoying, was actually intriguing. It was her way of going into deep thought it seemed. Something I had only witnessed a few times, and I knew from experience that thinking wasn't exactly her forte. Not that she was incapable off it, she just seemed to prefer the rather amusing alternative of going with whatever first popped into her mind. I felt the corners of my thin lips curl slightly as I recalled some of her more amusing blunders.

"Imagining yourself wearing a deerstalker and smoking a pipe?" I overcame my minute moment of shock at her noticing my far off expression before crumpling my brows in confusion at her own. She smiled knowingly back at me before continuing. "I could be your Doctor Watson if you want, I am hoping to become a healer after all"

_Doctor Watson?_ I frowned slightly. I had an inkling it was some Muggle reference that I wasn't getting so decidedly pushed it away to the back of my subconscious before resting on the other half of her statement. _She wanted to become a Healer?_ Somehow this shocked me more than anything. As kind as I had thought her to be, I just never imagined her wanting to care for people for a living. It seemed odd to me, like the little talent she had would be wasted in her career choice.

She frowned at me slightly, her bright eyes dimming somewhat as her playful tones were suddenly replaced with more sombre and hesitant ones. "You don't think I have what it takes do you"

I kept my body stiff as I remained silent, learning once before never to walk into one of these womanly doubled edged questions. It would end badly on my part if I did.

"What is so unbelievable about it hmm? Surely you don't think me that stupid, do you?" she huffed her chest out at me before crossing her arms over it and shaking her head in disbelief. I had found myself dwelling into her mind a few times tonight and knew that she had a lot of things on her mind what with her so called friends shunning her like a leper and all. I narrowed my eyes in anger as I refused to believe it was my fault, my presence in her life that had caused it all, and it was just them Gryffindor idiots being hotheaded as usual.

"I just never imagined that you had wanted to become a healer, when there are so many other jobs out there seemingly much more fitting to you and your talents" I said calmly. I watched as she cocked her head to the side in curiosity.

"Like what?" she blatantly asked.

"I just assumed that you would want to be an Auror, or something more demanding at least than working with the sick"

"Nah," she bluntly waved my statement off with her right hand, "not for me. I don't like exercise and I don't fancy running around after baddies. I'd much rather tend to the wounded of a fight than be running around causing them" she smiled distantly for a moment before smiling sheepishly at nothing in particular, "besides I think I'm a bit too hot headed and clumsy to be an Auror"

I felt my lips curl up at her half truth. _That she was._ Since Monday I had caught her three times from falling over and that wasn't including the times that I had deliberately let her fall. I didn't like coming across as the hero, as I certainly wasn't anything near that in reality. A brief flash of darkness swam though me before I was able to compose myself once again. The Dark Lord had nothing to do with this conversation, or Olivia for that matter.

"Have any other suggestions about the Potion?" I calmly changed the subject before it became too deep and dwelling. Something that I was certainly not going to sit through if it did, Olivia being involved or not. I didn't do emotions overly well and therefore avoiding confrontation of them as much as I could.

"Ehm..." she trailed off for a moment as she glanced over her note filled page. "I was thinking we could use something to try and take the edge off it all a bit? Like something to try and curve the side effects so they aren't so noticeable."

I nodded in understanding knowing that singing and nose tweaking were two regularly, and annoyingly, common side effects of said Elixir. "What do you suggest then?" I was only half humouring her to tell me her ideas not expecting them to measure up to anything as she may have been a bright Potions student, but she was never really that inventive in class. Always rushing to get the potion done so she could move onto the next.

She furrowed her brown slightly before answering. "I was first thinking of something water like, like the juice of something" I only half payed attention as I knew myself that adding any juice to this Potion at this late stage would do nothing but make it overly runny and ineffective. She tapped her finger to her lip a few times before speaking again, "but I ruled that out almost right away thinking it would probably just make the Elixir a total mess," my interest mounted again as I nodded at her to continue, "I then thought that something leafy might do the trick. Something with a strong smell like rosemary or mint even? It was just an idea, but I thought its texture and odour might help soak up any unwanted wormwood that hasn't absorbed properly as well as hopefully improve the smell?" I stared at her stunned for a moment as I had came to that same conclusion myself last week and was utterly shocked that she too could think along the same lines as I. She must of mistook my disbelief to mean that I thought little of her theory and stumbled slightly with her words. "Well it was just a suggestion. Probably a load of nonsense I'm sure so just ignore it all. I don't have a clue what I'm going on about half the time"

"No, it was a very intelligent suggestion. One I had thought of myself"

She smiled bashfully up at me before nudging my shoulder slightly with her own. "you're just saying that"

"I really do think it would work, mint that is. Spearmint. Rosemary might be a little too subtle to really make any big changes in the elixirs side effects"

She nodded her head in understanding before jumping on her feet and clapping her hands together. "Wanna try it out then? I have some spearmint sprigs in my bag. Dried ones be okay, yeah? My Dad sends me everything dried so he does. Would think he was allergic to liquids!"

I raised my eyebrow at her statement wondering exactly what kind of other ingredients her father might be sending her before following her over to the steaming cauldron. Spearmint sprigs in hand as we leaned over the dense fumes excitedly. I hated to admit it to myself, but I was having much more fun in these lessons than I really should have been. I thought having someone hovering over me working would be smothering, especially someone as intense as Olivia, but it wasn't. Was the opposite even. Was exhilarating in fact. I felt my mind sigh in relief at finally being able to talk about potions and the such without worrying about being judged, or looked down on or even worrying that the other person wasn't paying attention to me. It was rather nice sharing with someone. Sharing with Olivia. I could possibly see myself working with her quite frequently in the future even. I smiled at her back as she began dropping sprig by sprig into the steam.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

_Is it my imagination of is he daydreaming a lot today?_ I pondered to myself as I bottled a few vials of the elixir for no other reason that to prolong this lesson out for another ten minutes or so. Extremely sad that I was fishing for time by doing menial tasks like this which had no purposes whatsoever, but I felt like he had been so relaxed in my presence tonight that I never wanted to leave.

"I think only a few vials should be filled as we wont be using them"

I nodded vaguely at his statement as I continued to fill my three remaining empty vials up to the top. The colour of the potion was slightly off putting to me as it reminded me of the sun and we all know how fond I am of that ball of death don't we? _Why couldn't it be blue or red or a nice bright spring green or something? Yellow was just so, so sickening_. I shivered at the thought.

"Yellow has never been my colour either" Severus randomly stated without even so much as looking in my direction. I whipped my head over to face him as my mouth gaped open in shock.

"How-how did you know what I was thinking?"

It didn't slip pass me how his shoulders tensed at my statement, nor how his hands went stiff and rigid and nearly broke the vile he was holding in half. Something strange was definitely going on here.

His calm and stoic face turned to look me in the eye. "I just assumed from the way I caught you glaring at the cauldron with a disgruntled expression. Not the most difficult of things to work out from that evidence is it?"

He held eye contact with me for a few seconds before I shook it off, not fully believing his statement, but having no other option than to do so as I couldn't think of why he would be lying in the first place. I shrugged my shoulders at him in answer which seemed to satisfy him enough to loosen his grip on the glass vile and continue his movements as though they had never ceased.

A few seconds went by in silence as we continued our work.

"Severus," his head snapped to mine instantly causing me to smile slightly, "are you nervous about Saturday?"

I looked to me feet instantly as his eyes narrowed slightly. "Is there some reason why I should be?"

"No, I just meant about the detention, y'no with Sirius and I?" his shoulders tensed at the mention of Sirius' name, "I'm nervous..."

He looked at me wide eyed for a moment before narrowing them suspiciously again. "Why are you nervous? He is your friend is he not"

"Is he?" I asked, raising an eye brow at him before continuing, "He hasn't exactly been acting like one after I hexed his ass for trying to hurt you" I sighed loudly in frustration.

The tall gangly boy next to me looked uneasy for a second before speaking. "Why didn't you let him curse me? It would have been a lot easier that way and I could have easily handled it myself"

I looked deep into his eyes before smiling. "Because then I wouldn't have a partner in Potions would I?" I laughed lightly before placing my hand over his on the desk before us. "I wouldn't like to see you hurt, either of you, so I did what needed to be done. Before one of you blew the others head off" His eyes stared down at mine with such an intensity that I thought my knees might cave in at the sheer weight of it all. I felt like I was on the same wavelength with him as I thought about how happy I was to have him as a friend right now. A small blush crept up his neck as I thought that and I wondered if he too had been thinking the same thing, making me blush in return before clearing my throat loudly. "right well, better clean this mess up eh before old Sluggie creeps in on us and gives us yet another detention. Think I've marred your perfect record enough the past few weeks don't you?" And with that I abruptly moved from his side and began clearing away my effects, my heart pounding in my chest from our encounter still as my hand longed for contact of his ice cool skin once more.

It took me all of ten minutes to re-pack my bag and when it came to tidying away the cauldron and vials, a sudden idea struck me as though I had just been hit by lightening. I smiled devilishly to myself as I snatched a few vials of the elixir and placed them carefully into my bag for personal use. _If Sirius was angry at Lexi for not knowing everything, then I would tell him everything. Just as soon as I got a chance to slide one of these little beauties into his drink and then he couldn't possibly be angry at me could he?_ I almost laughed aloud at how perfect it was. I glanced over at Severus to see his back to me as he cleared away his own things. _Maybe Saturday wont be so bad after all..._


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I seem to take forever to write a chapter nowadays, and got myself a Beta too which added another day onto my, already, longer than average absence between chapters. Either way, I appologize for my absence. Lol.**

**My new Beta is DZMom. Who, i have to say, has been brilliant as spotting my one million and one gramatical errors. My college English professor would be seriously ashamed of me and my lack of skills. Lol. :| Anyways, big shout out to her and her ability to sort out the mess i call a chapter in less than no time. :P**

**Also want to take this time to say thanks to all who have reviewed so far. If it wasn't for you guys, there wouldn't be a story to read. So thanks. :]**

**Well enough of this gushy stuff. On with the chapter! Lol. :P**

Chapter Seventeen: Of Friends And Foes

Furrowing my eyebrows and pursing my lips, I mustered up the most glaring look I could and fixed it on the redhead down the table from me. I never thought I could actually hate someone, but I hated Lily Evans recently. I could practically hear every single bitchy word that she was uttering about me. I was a good few seats away from her **and** the Great Hall was as full and as loud as ever!

"Just ignore her, Ollie. She's just acting this way because she is upset."

"Upset?" I scoffed, startling the lithe blonde next to me as I rolled my eyes at her absurd reasoning. "She really looks upset, sitting there laughing and bitching away about me to her new mates with not a care in the world. Yeah, I can see how cut up she is over it all."

Lexi sighed next to me just as the infamous Lily Evans turned from chatting to Selena '_Wart Nose_' Owen's. She drew me the dirtiest look known to man before continuing her conversation again with the dark-haired witch next to her. And I say _witch_ as in she looked like a Muggle one, hence the wart nose comment.

"You see that? She is being such a stuck up cow, I swear!" I saw James' head flick to mine for a moment, a frown evident on his face as though he knew exactly who I was referring to, but I didn't care. She was a cow. _Who cares if I was seen talking to Severus?_ _For all she knew I had just vomited over the poor guy so I don't know why her panties were in the twist they were_. I scowled at her in disappointment one last time before going back to playing with my dinner. I had hardly eaten anything off my plate of roast beef with extra helpings of mashed potatoes. I wasn't in the mood after the day I had. Hellish wouldn't begin to cover it...

**FLASHBACK**

_Books? Check. Wand? Check. On time?_ Eh... I glanced at my watch quickly. _Shit. No check!_

I frowned deeply as I quickened my pace. I was sure to have sweaty armpits by the time I had reached the classroom. Professor Uley might not be the strictest of teachers, but he certainly wasn't going to like me strolling into his class fifteen minutes late. _Why I had to dilly-dally today of all days in the Library was beyond me!_ I shuffled even faster as I shook my head in disappointment at myself today. I had woken up this morning extra early and had decided, for once, that I was going to act my age and actually get a grip on things. I would go to all my classes, on time and prepared, unlike usual. So far, it had been going okay. But like everything else in my life at that moment, I just had to go and spoil it by getting lost in some Potions book Severus had recommended me yesterday in class. I smiled with difficulty, my breathing hard and deep as though I had just run the length of London and back.

_Severus._

How that boy plagued my mind and made me smile even though he was arguably the source of all my recent problems. Including the fact that I was late right at that moment

"Miss White!" Uley startled as I barged in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom like there was a fire. His expression soon turned from shock to anger. "Thirty points from Gryffindor for your interruption." He pointed over towards the opposite end of the classroom, near the windows, where a scowling Mulciber was sitting. Alone, I might add. "You will need to partner with Mulciber today as you missed getting paired."

I gulped. Loudly. So loudly that, I swear, the few students sitting closest to the door actually heard it.

Some hint of a memory was playing in my mind about how familiar this whole situation seemed. Then it clocked my recollection. It reminded me of when I was paired with another Slytherin after being late for a class. Only that was Advanced Potions and involved a sexy Severus Snape, and not a terrifying Mulciber, who presently had a look of pure evil in his eyes as he continued to glare me down. I walked slowly past all the desks, my breathing still loud and shallow from running all the way here. I saw Lexi, who was sitting next to Remus, smile reassuringly at me while Remus stared at me with a vivid look of sorrow evident on his scarred face. I reached the table quicker than I had hoped. My legs shook as I sat down next to my so-called '_partner' _for the next hour_._

You see, I wouldn't normally be this scared of someone, but two people had been killed yesterday morning. One of which was Sally Quinn's mother; Sally, a soft and shy Hufflepuff, had flown out of the Great Hall yesterday at breakfast when she had seen the murder headlining Wednesday morning's paper. The other was someone noone had known- some Muggle, who apparently had just wandered somewhere at the wrong time. All that had been upsetting enough, but what had really frightening to me was the look on Mulciber's face when Sally had run out; pure happiness lined every wrinkle and quirk as though he himself had killed those people and was dying to brag about it. I wouldn't have noticed this, however, if I hadn't been staring at Severus, like the stalker I was. He had been sitting two seats away from the giant gorilla and looked deathly pale at the news. Well, paler than usual, which was quite a feat in itself.

"We're practising duelling today. How convenient, eh?" I didn't turn to see the chuffed look on his fatter-than-a-walrus face. I didn't want to be reminded of the chill that had run down my spine yesterday when he had blatantly laughed at two people getting killed- mauled to death by those who followed the murderer named Val Mortimer or something. The name was something not very catchy anyway or else I would have remembered. It made me queasy, uneasy and more than a little nervous.

"Sir, I think Olivia and I should swap partners" Sirius' voice suddenly boomed throughout the classroom, causing most of the class, including myself, to look up in confusion.

"What the blazing-" Professor Uley stammered out before he managed to compose himself. "What, Mr. Black, would that achieve? We are a mixed class in here and house rivalries shouldn't, and won't, come into play in this classroom, so Miss White will be fine."

I almost found myself laughing at his naïvety. _Did he really think that putting different houses together and asking them to duel wasn't going to lead to at least half the class being taken to the Hospital Wing?_ He stared questionably over in Sirius' direction as though tempting him to find a hole in his logic. _Merlin, he did! I do believe this is my second clue that Dumbledore is batty. Why else would he have hired Mr. Dumb and Equality over there? It certainly wasn't for his great calls of judgement, that was sure!_

"Because, because..." Sirius' hand was sliding down from the air as his face became pained. Why he was being polite enough to raise his hand in the first place was beyond me. He usually just took to shouting whatever in classes without so much as a bat of an eyelid towards the teachers. "Because he is too strong for her and will curse her into the Hospital Wing," he stated with a finality, as though he was my father chastising Uley for not thinking of this before and knowingly putting my life at risk.

If I didn't know Sirius enough to think that he was speaking out to try to be gentlemanly and protective of me, I would've called him sexist right there and then for that comment. A feeling of dread washed over me suddenly and I turned to see Mulciber leaning into me. I found myself moving as far away as I could to the other side of the desk to try to get away from his aroma of pure, undiluted evil. He ignored my reaction, however, and began speaking.

"Black's right, you know. You're no match for me." I began twiddling my fingers in a nervous fashion. An extremely nervous fashion in fact, as my mind began to run away with itself on all the horrid and illegal curses Mulciber knew and how he wouldn't even bat an eye lid over using them on me. "And Snape won't be so vocal, like in Hogsmeade, now that he has been put _firmly_ back in his place. So it will just be me and you, in a moment, duelling. Alone and uninterrupted." He cracked his knuckles as he hissed out the word "firmly" and his face twisted itself into some sort of stomach-churning smile. The ones that make your heart flutter, just not in the good way.

I locked eyes with Severus, who was looking over at us intently, an unreadable expression on his face. I suddenly recalled what Mulciber must be hinting at when I remembered the black eye Severus had been sporting after Hogsmeade. A bit subdued for Mulciber, although he always had been more the thug sort than the wizard sort- his brain being too small to comprehend most of the spells in the first place. I faintly remembered the purple tinted dark circle lingered under one of Severus' alluring eyes at the Halloween Ball. It struck me strange how a bruise could linger so long when we had numerous lotions and potions in the Hospital Wing which would mask that sort of thing within minutes. Then again, Severus was the prided sort of man. His pride alone could have stopped him from even searching for help in the first place. I chewed my lip at realisation that Severus most likely was walking about in pain for the last two weeks, and I'd hardly noticed. _What sort of a stalker was I anyway? James would have noticed immediately if just one strand of Lily's ginger hair was out of place. And I couldn't even spot a black eye!_ I shook my head clear as I felt a sort of determination wash over me from Mulciber's words, the sickness in my stomach from his comment turning to hatred now as anger burned through me. I pursed my lips slightly before raising my hand to speak. The laughter from the Slytherin's in the class died down and melted into the silence radiating from the other houses.

"I don't want to change partners. I'm fine with Mulciber." My voice came out much more biting than I thought it would. Several students looked at me in shock, Sirius and Severus included. Lily rolled her eyes at me before turning to James and clearly mouthing the words to him, '_hope she gets what she deserves_', before he shot her a look and shook his head in a '_no_' fashion.

Uley coughed loudly from the front of the class. "Right well, uhm...let's get started then, shall we?" He clapped his hands together a few times before barking out orders at us on where to stand and the strict rules we were to follow. The-oh-so-important rules of no serious spells, which were definitely going to get broken- and by me of all people. I could feel it. One side glance to my still-smirking '_partner_' and I was determined that if I was to do anything today in class, it was to wipe that horrid smirk off his face, even if it meant beating him to a pulp by hand. Something I assumed wouldn't go down to well, considering my wrists were more flimsy than paper itself.

I followed the rest of my classmates' lead and left my desk, taking my position on the floor up ahead, which Uley had just started clearing of tables. Mulciber thundered up behind me, confident and smug as though he knew I didn't stand a chance against him. Now I might get pretty good grades in this class and things, but I had never really been much of an experienced person myself when it came to duelling. I wasn't about to let this hinder me today, of all days, as I tried my best to recall any curse at all which would blow the stout and grinning malicious bastard before me into smithereens.

I saw Lexi and Remus' ashen, stricken faces make their way over to us as they took a position as close as they could beside me. Their eyes flicked constantly over to Mulciber's as they pulled their wands out, readying themselves to jump in and save me at any given moment. I held back from scoffing at their actions, no matter how touching they were. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius and his over-talkative Ravenclaw partner standing on the other side of me. Sirius' eyes were hard and hollow as he shot daggers at the hideous thing that was towering before me. His hands were flexing together as though he was preparing for a fistfight and not a duel with wands. His partner, however, was rambling on excessively, as though she hadn't the faintest about the minus-fifty atmosphere that was closing in around us- typical Ravenclaw of all brains and no actual street sense. If it wasn't in a book, they didn't have a clue. I rolled my eyes at how utterly stupid they really were.

"Right, wands ready. Get into positions, and begin once you feel ready. No harmful spells remember. You are just trying to disarm your partner, not actually hurt-"

"_Expelliarmus_!"

"_Steleus!_"

"_Everte Statum!_"

All hell seemed to break loose as some of the class, mainly the Slytherins, began shooting spells here and there without even so much as nodding their head in acceptance at their duelling partners. I tried to ignore all this, however, as I firmly nodded my head in acceptance of Mulciber, who didn't even bat his eyelids in return before shouting;

"_Confundo!_"

I barely had time to move as the spell shot by my ear, narrowly missing me by only an inch. Just as I was catching my breath, another spell shot by me. This one much more sinister than the last.

"_Defodio_!"

"Everyone calm down please! Remember the rules of no spells other than ones to disarm!" Uley attempted to shout over the noise, but failed miserably. I could only make out half of what he said and knew that Mulciber wasn't following the rules at all, but it would have been laughable of me to assume otherwise.

I gritted my teeth as I blew a few stray strands of hair out of my eyes, my feet moving of their own accord as I marched towards the bulky Slytherin and raised my wand in confidence.

"_Furnunculus!_" I called as a green light shot out of my wand and hit a smirking Mulciber square on the chest. I knew it was luck as there was no way I would have been able to of hit him if he was paying attention. Fortunately for me, though, his small brain gave out, along with his attention span it seems.

"_Finite!_"

Silence washed over me as every spell in the room suddenly halted and Professor Uley marched over towards where I was standing. His face was bright red with anger as his eyes swept over the scene before him.

"Disarming spells, I stated. Nothing to injure or hurt your partner. And what, Miss White, do you go and do? Hmm?" He looked down at me as he continued to fluster around on the spot, his rant on duelling etiquette continuing. "You go and hex Mr. Mulciber here flat out cold!" One of his long -fingered hands covered his face before he sighed. "Fifty points from Gryffindor, and detention Saturday with me."

I coughed meekly as I shuffled my left foot around my right in slight embarrassment. "I ehm...already have detention Saturday, Sir. I think I'm free next Wednesday, though, if that's-that's okay? I should definitely have room in my schedule then."

He made a noise similar to that of a child when frustrated. I should know, as I've made it myself on more than a regular basis. "Fine. Next Wednesday it is then. Here at 8 pm sharp." And with that he marched off to the front of the class once more, hissing about '_stupidity_' and '_never working with under-age Wizards_'.

I frowned momentarily at the prospect of having yet another detention added to my already bulging schedule, before being reminded that I had knocked Mulciber out cold and won our duel. A bright smile came over my lips as my head dropped down to that of a fat boil-covered body a few feet from my own. A few Slytherins were attempting to haul him to his feet, no doubt to escort him to the hospital wing, their eyes flickering to mine threateningly every so often. One even went so far as to slide her finger across her neck in a cutting manner. Lovely manners the Slytherins had.

"That-that was bloody brilliant, Olivia!" Sirius' voice called as strong arms circled around my waist, enclosing me in a hug while they spun me around.

"Why thank you, kind sir." I giggled like the four year old I internally was. He spun me round once more before placing me back on solid ground and turning to face me.

"I see why you were always in the library now." Remus smiled, his eyes twinkling over at my own. Lexi beamed over at me behind him, her eyes shifting to Sirius every now and then as though wondering exactly how to react while he was here.

I smiled warmly back at her as I waved her to come over, hoping, now that everyone was in a good mood, she and Sirius might be able to patch up their differences here and now. The moment she approached my side, however, I knew I was wrong.

"She didn't do anything but break the rules. I don't understand why you are all congratulating her."

I stiffened at the harsh tone before turning to my left to see a frowning Lily Evans standing next to a slightly uncomfortable-looking James Potter. Yes, not everyone was happy, it seemed. Least of all Lily.

"Well, he did try and blow my head off first, if I remember, so I believe he deserved it. If I say so myself." I smiled wryly up at her as a small group of Slytherins pushed their way through our group, the man-in-question's body levitating limply before them. Now that he was closer, I noticed just how bad he really did look. His skin was marred with boils everywhere, oozing and crusting, making him look like a serious burn victim. _And unconscious? Surely my simple curse wouldn't have caused this to happen?_ I frowned after the group, utterly confused as to why he was in that bad a shape, until Lily brought me back to earth once more.

"Well, that is what you deserve for hanging out with his lot. For associating with him and his _friends._" She practically hissed the last part out at me ,causing me to take a step towards her.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Lily?" My eyes were slitted as I glared up into her light green ones. They were so similar to mine, but colder. More distant and calculating. I was suddenly reminded of the bitchy cheerleader-sort in American High School movies. Could almost see her with pom-poms, actually.

"It means bad things happen around them, Olivia, and if you're willing to associate with them then bad things will happen around you, too. I hope you enjoy them, as you deserve it."

I bit back the tears that were threatening to fall from my eyes and betray my emotions to my so-called friend before me. _How could she say such things and not even feel slightly guilty?_ I looked at the floor briefly before barging past her and out of the classroom. If I had been thinking straight at the time, I would have been thankful to Uley for dismissing the class not five minutes before I stormed out, saving myself from yet another night of torture writing lines or cleaning out storerooms. But I wasn't thinking straight, and therefore, could only think of how bitchy and horrid Lily had been to me, and how much I hated her for it. And hated myself even more for not noticing, before now, how fake she really was...

_**END FLASHBACK**_

I shook the memory from my head as my eyes lingered over to the Slytherin table almost out of habit. I did a quick scan for the bulky figure of Mulciber and realised that he must still be in the hospital wing. A small twinge of guilt soared through me. _Did I really do that much damage that Madam Hurley or Pomphrey couldn't fix yet?_ _Technically, Mulciber hadn't really done anything overly bad to me in person, minus the whole ice cream débâcle in Hogsmeade, that is_. _But did that really deserve me rendering him unconscious for a night?_ Then my eyes found those of Severus and I remembered why I was so angry with Mulciber in the first place. _Maybe he did deserve a lesson in cruelty for what he did. Merlin knows what he had done to Severus other than the black eye. Plus, he was a bully. All bullies deserve their comeuppance at some point._ I nodded my head once in finality as I clung on to that reason. _Yes, I did the right thing._ Severus smiled slightly at me just as I thought that. I couldn't help that some small part of me filled up in elation since he, too, agreed with my thoughts. He knew exactly what I was thinking and that comforted me me somehow. It made me feel secure, something I never thought Severus of all people would make me feel.

* * *

"Alright, Dears, we will be de-flowering the Aconite plants today for Professor Slughorn" Half of the small class sighed heavily before being interrupted by Professor Sprout's loud and cheery tones once more. "Remember to be extremely careful now when handling, even with your gloves on!"

I smiled at Sprout as the image of her and Slughorn being married one day crossed my mind. I don't know why, they just seemed so right for each other, what with her being a Herbologist and him a Potions Master. They just fit with each other. Not to mention their personalities were one and the same at times. It was rather scary. Although I will say so myself, Sprout always was the kinder and happier one. Being a Hufflepuff did that to you, I thought. They all seemed to be the '_glass is half full_' sorts in contrast to the always pessimistic Slytherin's.

"I have to say that I'm not fond of this job at all." Remus frowned next to me as he began tucking his hands into his dragon hide gloves. His extremely worn dragon hide gloves, I might add. I, too, might have been slightly more on the cautious side if my had gloves looked like that.

"Oh shush! It's not that bad. It's rather relaxing, I think" I smiled sweetly at him as I, too, slid my hands in my own set of gloves. Ones which didn't have holes in them and were still extremely thick and new.

"I'm glad you're much happier today, Olivia. You shouldn't let things get to you so much." I frowned slightly at Remus' words as I was reminded of the mess that was my DADA class yesterday.

"Don't you mean I shouldn't let Lily get to me? It was her, after all, who was being so unkind." I plucked a flower off the Wolfsbane plant with much more force than was actually needed. Remus cast a look over me from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't mean to upset you by bringing it up. I just wanted to assure you not to take everything at face value, that's all."

I scoffed at that statement. "Face value? How else was I supposed to take her comments? With a pinch of salt, I presume?"

"No, you're not getting what I mean at all." He shook his head slightly before tentatively plucking a flower off his own plant. "What I meant to say was that you shouldn't blame yourself so much for what happened to Mulciber. It wasn't entirely your fault."

I dropped my eyes to the golden plant before me, its colour mocking my mood, somehow, as it glared up at me. _Glared? Okay, maybe not glared. But you get what I mean._ "He's still in the hospital wing. I feel so bad as I _wanted_ to hurt him, just not near _kill_ him is all. And although he deserves it, a part of me wishes I just never did it. Just never even went to class that day."

"Don't be so harsh on yourself. You never meant to render him unconscious and no one thinks otherwise."

"Tell that to the bunch of glaring Slytherins that keep shooting me death glares every time I see them," I said as I smiled slightly.

"Ow! I really hate these plants!" Remus hissed next to me. I bit my lip from laughing at him as he frowned at his plant and glared down at it so uncharacteristically while nursing his pointer finger on his left hand. It was almost as though he had a grudge against the unsuspecting flower and thought it had hurt him intentionally.

"I didn't know you hated plants so much, Remus. Remind me again why you're taking this class, exactly?" I smiled slyly up at him as my once-frowning eyes now danced with mirth.

"I take this class as I hope to actually have a job after Hogwarts, and will need all the grades I can get." He stared down at his plant once more. "I just don't like this plant in particular..."

"Not a fan of yellow, then?" I murmured as I skirmished at my own brightly glowing plant. "Me neither, actually. Not a big fan of wolves either, or worms for that matter. There's always loads of worms in these things."

"Sorry?"

"I said I don't like wolves or worms." I cocked my head to the side to see an ashen-faced Remus staring off into the distance. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?" I asked, totally bewildered with myself. _Maybe I've unknowingly insulted him somehow? Or set his pants alight again? _I peeked under the table to see that Remus' trousers were thankfully in their usual thin, greying state and not flaming at the edges. _Thank Merlin I haven't done that again!_

"No, no, nothing. I just don't like wolves either, is all..." His distant reply did little to reassure me that I hadn't upset him so I decided to use one of my Severus tricks on him: distraction.

"So, who won between you and Lexi yesterday, then? She swears it was her who got the last spell in, but I have a feeling she's lying."

He smiled slightly before his voice returned to its normal level of polite friendliness. "She isn't, actually. I got distracted and she managed to disarm me just before Professor Uley ended the class."

I pulled three flowers off at a time before placing them delicately into the small container beside the plant pot. "And what exactly caught your attention, then? Staring longingly at girls again, were we, Remus?"

My fair-haired companion blushed somewhat before clearing his throat. "No, actually, I was staring at Severus, in fact."

"Severus?" I exclaimed, not being able to hide the extreme surprise in my voice as my head snapped to his. My eyes were wide and worried as I searched his face for answers. "Why-why were you staring at hi-him?"

His eyes twinkled down at me. "Don't be so worried. I may not be his number one fan, but I see no problem with Severus or your relationship with him." He smiled knowingly at me, which caused me to break his gaze quickly before he caught sight of my burning cheeks. "He merely caught my attention as he seemed to not be blocking very many of his partner's spells. He never usually was that bad in class and I was curious as to why he was then."

"Merlin, he wasn't hurt or anything was he? He was partner with some Ravenclaw boy, Douglas or something, and-"

"He was fine." My ranting got cut short as Remus continued his explanation, his plant long forgotten now, as was mine. "It seems he was only distracted as he was staring at you."

"Me? Staring at me?" I shouted. Several students looked over at us before rolling their eyes at seeing who was shouting. I had a reputation by now, it seemed, for shouting random things in class. How wonderful!

"I also saw him send a curse in Mulciber's direction. Right about the time you hit him with your own, in fact."

I ignored Remus' ever-knowing smiling face as my mind began racing with questions. _Why would he curse his own friend? Mulciber did punch him, mind. But did he hate his fellow Slytherin that much? Was he trying to protect me, maybe? Or curse me instead of Mulciber but he missed? Nah, he never misses. Did he do the boil curse also? Was that why Mulciber was in so bad a state?_ I shook my head, thoroughly confused as to what the hell he was doing yesterday in class. I would never know the truth, anyway. He would never just tell me, that was for sure. He was much too guarded for that. Like some vault in Gringotts his mind was- one of the dragon-protected ones which held highly classified stuff and not just one of the ordinary key ones.

"He cursed Mulciber, too?" I stated dumbly, hoping Remus knew more than he was letting on.

"Yes. I do believe he did." I smiled widely at this news, somehow relieved and flattered by it all. _He cared enough to hex his friend for me!_ I squealed quietly in excitement as I clapped my hands together in effect. Remus, no doubt, was trying to be a gentleman and was resisting laughing and rolling his eyes at me about now. _Wow! Severus Snape tried to protect me!_ I sighed heavily, my head clouded with happy daydreams over what this could mean before a large storm cloud blew in and rained heavily on my parade._ Wait a minute! He was most likely just getting revenge on Mulciber for punching him._ I face palmed myself at how stupid I was to think he could have done it for me. _He doesn't even like me enough to do things like that. He doesn't like anyone enough to do things like that!_ I pouted like a child. _So much for my daydreams of us marrying and running off together then. A bit far-fetched, I know, but they were daydreams after all._ A strange question came to me then. _Was it coincidence that we had both used the same curse?_ Only the same curse could have caused Mulciber to look extra boil-ly and pass out like that. Any other combination and he would mostly likely be dead or in St. Mungo's at least. Combining curses and spells was dangerous. Even I knew that. A strange feeling creeped up on me. _Did he know I was going to use that curse?_ Severus had fast reflexes, yes. But even he couldn't have moved fast enough once I had uttered the words aloud. _He must have known what I was going to say before I spoke it. He couldn't read minds, surely!_ The memory of our last tutoring session flashed before my eyes and I was reminded of how, once before, he had strangely been in tune with me. I paled considerably as I thought of what this could mean if it was true. He could have heard everything I had ever thought in front of him, every little mundane and crazy trickle of imagination and every down right filthy day dream I have ever had of me and him. _No, no... he couldn't have heard them or else he would've certainly ran a mile after he had. Even some of them made my own toes curl, they were so 'out there', as others would say_. I knew I had to test my logic out now to see if I was right, and for once I was mostly hoping to be proven wrong. Him knowing what I was thinking all the time would only end in tears. Something that I had seemed so happy about before now seemed so frighteningly scary.

Remus' voice brought me sharply back to reality. "I certainly will never understand how you girls can change emotional states so quickly. One minute you're smiling and laughing, next you're frowning and cursing and then you're staring off into the distance and sighing. I've never been more thankful to be male."

I shook my head clear and smiled at my bewildered friend. "That's because, Dear Remus, you males have the emotional expressions of a log: none at all. You men are more shielded than Slughorn's chocolate stash!"

He smiled down at me playfully before shaking his head in mock disapproval. Yes, trust me to be the one to make Remus think all girls are mental. Apparently that's all I appear to do: make guys think girls are crazy. So glad I am doing my job so well. I hopefully will get paid the next time I strike fear into one of the male population of Hogwarts, actually benefiting from my flaws for once.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Well finally, here is chapter eighteen. Sorry for the wait guys. Hope yous like it. :] Thanks to **_DZAuthor AKA DZMom_** for Beta reading for me once again. :D **

**I've also got a little proposition for yous all. I thought it might be fun if yous all left a little idea of something yous might like to see Severus and Olivia doing at one point in a review or msg. I've got the story all pretty much mapped out in my head, but thought it might be fun to see if any of my wonderfull readers had anything amusing or dramtic to add. Maybe even romantic situations as well? Hell knows we could be doing with some more of those as they haven't even kissed yet! Lol. :P anyways, drop me a line and let me know your ideas. :]**

**Oh, what you guys think of the final Harry Potter film then? Just had to ask. Lol. :D**

Chapter Eighteen: The Severe Bad Luck Of Olivia White: Part One

"You need to come today, it's imperative that you be there and make an impression."

"No, it's not. You're talking utter rubbish now."

"Rubbish? You think _they_ will see it that way if you _aren't_ there cheering them on?"

"Of course they won't see it that way! I never go, so why should I start now?"

"Maybe, because you're trying to build bridges, and re-mend friendships? Show your support to them instead of to your _other_ friends, and, don't forget, you promised me you would make things right with Sirius again before tonight."

I sighed in defeat before reluctantly getting up off the couch and making my way over to the portrait hole. My copy of _The Two Towers_ utterly abandoned now I had actual plans other than just lazing about for the next four hours or so doing nothing but fantasizing about a certain Hobbit. "Lead the way then, if I must."

Lexi squealed like a five year old, before crippling me into a bear hug. These moments were pretty rare between us as we weren't the usual hugging sort of female friends people normally expected. Despite all Lexi's glamorous visage, she was just as awkward (and crazy) as me most of the time. Only she had some actual sense when and when not to show it in public, unlike _moi_. "Thank you for coming! I didn't know where Remus was going to sit, and I wouldn't feel right being next to Lily the way she's been treating you at the moment, but I didn't want to sit by myself either and-"

"You're beginning to sound like me, Lexi, so shush," I smiled, before following her out of the portrait hole and down the many flights of stairs. The short walk was silent between us as we both mused to ourselves, each lost in their own heavy thoughts. I didn't know why I had promised Lexi I would make things right with Sirius tonight in detention. I could see it in his eyes still, the look of betrayal and disappointment that lingered every time he looked at me. Lexi was convinced he didn't feel that way, however. She told me that if he hated me so much, he wouldn't of been so protective of me Wednesday in Defence Against The Dark Arts. I told her it was probably just instinct, and that he only spoke to me afterwards as he was on a roll with the protectiveness. No other words had transpired between us since then, and I had a feeling not much was going to pass between us tonight, either. I instinctively slid my hand into my jeans pocket and fingered the vial hidden deep inside. That was yet another thing that had yet to be resolved: _to slip a potion to my friend or not?_ Or better yet, drug the whole lot of them with the Euphoria Inducing elixir and let them work it out amongst themselves while I got back to my book upstairs!

As we turned the corner to the first floor, my eardrums were suddenly flooded with noise. I wasn't sure if I was just too preoccupied before to have not noticed it, or if everyone just seemed to have finished breakfast at the same time and began shouting all at once. In this castle, either was a good bet considering it was match day. And being the first match of the school Quidditch season, anything goes. Including barging about like an angry mob in the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Hey, Lexi! Wish me luck before the big game?" I looked up to be greeted by none other than the six-foot-tall Ravenclaw beater, Vincent Normandy. His eyes sparkled down at us both as we reached the bottom of the stairs where he was currently standing, poised and waiting like some Prince from a Disney movie. He was what I would describe as being a Greek God, Herculean almost. His smile had driven many a girl in Hogwarts crazy. Like actually stalker crazy, with love potions and bunny boiling and all sorts of weird things. Well, maybe not the bunny boiling, but you catch my drift all the same. He turned the full heat of his 'winning smile' down upon me suddenly. "You, too, Olivia. It would mean a lot if you offered me your luck also."

I looked about, physically confused as to how this giant knew my name. Lexi laughed excitedly next to me before pushing me into him. More like shoved me into him, as I crashed right into his rock solid chest as though I had been propelled towards a stone wall. I rubbed my hands slightly in pain, before backing off and looking nervous.

"She would love to, Vincent. Sure you would, right, Olivia?" she smiled, before walking past me and leaving me alone and unprotected with him whom I was now dubbing The Hulk. He was definitely on steroids, this one was. Not my most favourite look on a guy, I tell you. Not even in my top ten, I'm afraid. "I, on the other hand, have to go meet someone. Sorry!" And with that, she waved back at us as she stalked off into the crowd. Leaving me cornered and alone with someone who looked like he could physically eat me. Pick me up and swallow me whole before washing me down with several glasses of pumpkin juice. Or protein shakes, more so in his case.

He grinned down at me before repeating his question from before, "Will you wish me luck before the game then Olivia? It would mean a lot to me if you would."

I knew what he was hinting at and I most certainly didn't want to give it to him, a large, moist kiss on the cheek. You see, most of the single guys from the Quidditch teams, would take these games to ask some girl they fancied to cheer for them, knowing there was a pretty high success rate in them saying yes, and then bedding them afterwards if they actually won. Vincent, here, liked to take a more gentlemanly approach to it all. He would ask the girl he had his eye on to offer him a good luck kiss on the cheek, then, possibly, take her on some romantic date circa the 1940's after that. So far, his success rate with the ladies could rival that of Sirius's. Who, unlike Vincent, liked to utilize the more 'treat them mean, keep them keen_' _rule. Which seemed to be working rather well for him, considering that he hadn't gone a single day since third year without so much as kissing a girl. Given, some of them jumped **him** in the corridors and after games. Screaming for him to seed their love child, but hey, his plan worked didn't it?

He glanced over my confused and unwilling expression before leaning into me, taking my hand in his, and placing his large fish-like lips lightly on top of my hand. The springy texture of his moist lips felt odd and disgusting against my delicate skin. I stared about, even more bewildered, unsure if I was supposed to be flattered by his show of expression, or thoroughly disgusted over the fact that a strange man's DNA was now coating my hand like a slick of paint.

"See you at the match." He smiled one last time at me before striding effortlessly off through the crowd of chattering Quidditch fans. A few Ravenclaw girls beside me scoffed in my direction. One even went as far as to complain loudly that I was "stealing all the good blokes in the school_"_. I rolled my eyes at her comment. _Hardly!_ If she knew I had my eyes set on Severus Snape then I am sure she wouldn't be looking at me with murder in her eyes but with severe fear of how crazy I was to pick him over Vincent or one of the Marauders. _As if either of those plonkers were my type. Like really?_ I pushed the memory of me and one said _plonker_ in the Gryffindor Quidditch room broom cupboard, getting a little more than cosy last year. _Well, not my type __**any more**_, I corrected myself before marching through the throng of students in search of Lexi.

* * *

I itched at my neck furiously as my gold and red scarf threatened to choke me to death. The wind was picking up slightly causing the ends of my so called scarf to lash out at the people next to me while constricting my breathing further.

"I hate these games. It's freezing out here sitting half way up to the heavens, and nothing exciting ever happens," I moaned as my hands flapped about my face trying hopelessly to tame my make-shift noose.

Lexi reached over and tied my scarf around my neck another few times thereby stopping it from throttling me to death. "Stop fussing and just pay attention to the game."

I huffed childishly before crossing my arms over my chest in a useless bid to keep myself warm. It felt like it was below freezing outside but I had decided to wear nothing but jeans and a shirt. My cloak, hat and gloves sat long forgotten in my dorm. _At least your neck's warm_, I thought to myself as I scratched below my ear again. _And also itchy_, I added. My pathetic excuse for nails clawed at my skin as though I had chicken pox. I elbowed the person next to me in the arm accidentally.

"Hey! Watch it will you!" The fourth year Gryffindor boy yelped as he rubbed his arm in disgruntlement and pain. I drew him the evils before elbowing him again just for his cheek. _Well he shouldn't be practically sitting on my lap, should he?_ I mean I know there weren't individual seats, but he was sitting so close to me that I could actually see the fluff on his chin that he was trying to pass off as a beard. It was the poorest excuse of a beard I had ever seen. A maximum of three hairs, if even that. He rolled his eyes at my staring before shifting over slightly and closer to his friend. I smiled in victory at having enough space to now unclasp my legs from each other and sit like a normal human being.

"Foley passes to Heard, who flips past Quigley and makes his way swiftly over towards the Gryffindor goal. He better be quick, though, as Potter has his eye on him now. He raises the ball and- oh! He gets bludgeoned by Black who aims right for his balls. OW! Oh, sorry, Professor! I meant his privates!"

"YAY! GO SIRIUS!" Lexi called out next to me as the whole of the Gryffindor stand, minus _moi_, stood up to cheer on Sirius who had just stopped Ravenclaw from scoring. I merely stayed sitting, raising my hand into the air and calling out a feeble "whoop" for added emphasis. It wasn't like I didn't want us to win. I did. I just didn't understand the game at all and therefore, couldn't bring myself to go crazy and cheer like the rest of my house. I would've needed to be extremely drunk to be acting that crazy, I feared.

I rested my head on my arms as I scanned across the field below me. My eyes checked over all the faces I could make out as boredom kicked in and I zoned out of the game. The Hufflepuff stand was a mixture of red and blue as their house remained neutral. The Slytherin stand was still mostly green, bar the few hateful Gryffindor banners here and there. The odd Slytherin even resorted as low as wearing a Ravenclaw scarf for good measure. I rolled my eyes at the stupidity of the house rivalries. Okay, I wasn't Slytherin's biggest fan, nor was I in love with the Hufflepuffs or Ravenclaws. But I didn't hate any of them. It was completely silly to automatically hate something just because it was tradition. I mean, I wouldn't start slapping people to say hello if someone suddenly told me that was normal, so why would I hate people I didn't even know just 'cause the sorting hat decided I belonged in Gryffindor and not another house? Totally bizarre old age rivalries.

The Slytherins suddenly stood up and cheered. Their banners of 'Sod The Lions!', 'Black is Whack' and_ '_Potter Is A Rotter!' waved through the air triumphantly, telling me that either Ravenclaw scored or someone on the Gryffindor team got smacked by a bludger. Either way I didn't care. As long as no-one had plummeted to their death and we hadn't lost, they could start sword fighting on their brooms. My attention span was that far gone I seriously couldn't care less.

A dark hunched figure caught my eye causing me to wave cheerily over at him. My face immediately alighted with excitement from just catching a glimpse of him here. He didn't seem the sort to come to these games, but neither was I and look at me. All Gryffindor-ed up and sitting front row in the stands like some avid, crazy fan. His head shot up from staring at the floor and he looked right at me. He didn't wave back, but I could've of sworn I had seen his expression brighten up slightly. Heat flushed my cheeks as I waved over once more, my hand moving even more excitedly, if that was even humanly possible. His hand raised up then, slowly and unsure, but waving all the same. I was just about to signal him to meet me on the ground when something large hovered in the air before me and blocked my view.

My eyes narrowed and met Vincent Normandy, who's beaters bat was poised above his head and ready to swing. Several gasps and shrieks chorused around me as I closed my eyes in fear of what was going to happen next.

A loud whoosh.

Cheering.

Squeals of awe.

I cracked one eye open to see a bludger flying away from me (not towards me causing my unfortunate demise) and directly at Sirius Black. Why? I don't know. I glanced about me at the awed faces before looking to Lexi for some sort of explanation as to why I wasn't knocked out cold about now.

"Oh, Merlin! Did you see that?" Lexi's jaw almost hit the floor as she spoke. Her hands were poised over her mouth in shock as her eyes darted between mine and the Ravenclaw beater who I had sworn was just about to kill me with a bludger. "Vincent just totally saved your life, Olivia! It-it was brilliant!"

I gasped slightly before my own green orbs began flicking between Vincent and my gob-smacked friend. "What?"

"Sirius hit a bludger and it flew over here by accident. If it wasn't for Vincent's quick reflexes, you would've gotten smacked in the face!"

I swallowed hard at that news. I liked my face the way it was and was extremely thankful that it hadn't just been mangled up, by Sirius Black of all people. Madam Hurley might be a dab hand at healing spells, but fixing a caved in face might even be beyond her skills. Thank Merlin I hadn't ended up in a position to test out her skills, though.

"Fife catches the snitch. Gryffindor wins!" McClary's thick Irish accent suddenly resounded about the pitch, signalling the end of the game. My fellow house mates' looks of awe for the Ravenclaw beater suddenly turned to victory glares and winning chants against him. How fickle stupid games made people. It was beyond childish.

The crowd around me started stampeding down towards the pitch to congratulate our team on winning. A few stopped every now and then to state how miraculous Vincent's life-saving move was, some of the females even managing to speak while biting back the clear jealousy that was written all over their hardening expressions.

"Come on, Olivia!" Lexi called from the top of the stairs leading down to the pitch. People were pushing past her, but she firmly stood her ground while continuing to shout over at me. "Now is your time to talk to Sirius!" I begrudgingly made my way towards her, my feet dragging behind as I was reluctant to approach Sirius Black until I really had to. "You might even get to thank Vincent also as it looks like he is down there with the Gryffindor team."

I sneaked a peek over the railings to see Vincent and Sirius in deep discussion over something. No doubt, about the rogue bludger that had almost knocked my head off. I grumbled a half-hearted reply to Lexi. Vincent was another person I could do with avoiding right about now. I didn't want his saliva on my person again, or even near it, for that matter. I frowned at the thought.

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

I felt my hands involuntarily clench at my sides as I made my way up to the Entrance Hall. It was nearing seven and as much as I didn't want to attend tonight, I hated being late. Therefore, I felt my pace quicken of its own accord as I rushed to get upstairs on time.

My mind raced with numerous situations Black would no doubt put me in tonight, every one of them more embarrassing and absurd than the last. I clenched my fists harder as I realised I still hadn't gotten my revenge over the Filch incident. I had more patience than Black and his lot, therefore, I had been thinking long and hard over something that would dampen their spirits well past Hogwarts and deep into their adult lives. Needless to say, I hadn't been able to think of something that would cause that much upset as of yet, but felt that when I did, they would think twice about harassing me in the future.

"Severus! I can't believe you're one minute late!"

I looked up to see the bright pixie Gryffindor that I knew so well bobbing about on the spot as though her feet were encased in flames. I smiled meekly at her before scanning the area surrounding us for a certain individual, but strangely finding no-one except the smiling red-head before me.

"And you are several minutes early." She smiled at my statement as her cheeks flushed a bright pink. I felt my smile widen at her reaction, which seemed only to make her cheeks deepen in colour. A colour I never thought I would be so happy to see.

"If you're looking for Sirius, he's not here." She ducked her head as she spoke, as though embarrassed or trying to hide something from me. I had to restrain myself from placing my hand under her chin and lifting her eyes to mine. As much as I wanted to see what she was thinking, I couldn't help the guilt that waved over me every time that I invaded her mind. As much as her thoughts of how she valued me as a friend in her life and other such happy things were gratifying, I knew at some point I would learn something deep and personal of hers that my guilt would make it hard not to reveal to her. "Severus, are you okay?" A small clammy hand on my forearm brought me back to reality. A sad smile graced her face as she looked at me with concern. "I know how you feel if that makes any consolation. I'm bricking it too about tonight."

I furrowed my eyebrows as a small, strangled laugh escaped her blood red lips. Why she always wore that damned enticing lip colour was beyond me. Before I could even fully ponder over what she had said, the half-breed Giant Hagrid appeared before us.

"Where's the other one? Dumbledore said there would be three of yehs tonight."

"Sirius isn't here..."

I glanced at her down heartened expression as Hagrid mumbled something incoherent in reply to her before gesturing us both to follow him outside. I followed obediently, while Olivia trailed a good few steps behind me. Her head glanced up towards the staircase a few times, no doubt looking for Black. I was personally thankful that he wasn't here. I could be doing without his presence tonight. Especially after his little incident on the pitch earlier today. Even I have the athletic ability to not hurl a bludger anywhere near the stands. Whether Normandy was parading about in front of them or not, he should've known better than to be so careless. I found that I had been on my feet, wand poised and pointed at the scene, ready to intervene if necessary. I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself If I had just sat back and watched Olivia get knocked unconscious by Black of all people. He was an idiot to let something as petty as jealously over that blonde giant cloud his ability to concentrate. A trait that showed he was meant for Gryffindor and not Slytherin; petty emotions. Normandy, however, managed to slip in before me and be the hero as usual, which I wasn't best pleased about.

"Fightin' in the Hospital Wing," the overgrown man before me muttered to no-one in particular as we strolled through the darkened grounds of the castle. My attention was firmly back in that present moment. "What were yehs thinkin', eh?"

A presence appeared suddenly at my side, an arm reaching out from under her cloak and grabbing onto mine. I felt my crotch bulge as my eyes widened for a fraction of a second. What was she doing?

"I don't like the forest much in the dark," she quietly stated. The fear broke through in her voice ever so slightly as she spoke. I don't think I have ever seen her frightened of anything, if I didn't include that ridiculous baby incident in Defence class last month, that is. Scared of children and the dark? She was acting like a child herself having those petty fears. Despite my unhappy thoughts, however, I allowed her to cling to my being for comfort even if I knew I couldn't give it to her. I, at the moment was probably more frightening than anything out here with the mess I was tangled up in with the Death Eaters. I may have not actually contributed to anything sinister as of yet, but I was definitely in way too deep to back out now, regardless of how I felt about the matter and who it might eventually hurt. I glanced instinctively down at the red head who was all but hugging my midriff.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

"Right, that's far enough fer now. We'll wait five more minutes fer Black before we go any further."

Hagrid stopped us at the edge of the forest and indicated for us to sit down. The moon was clear tonight. Little of it was hidden, but it still cast an eerie enough glow over the dense trees before us to make me tighten my hold on the tall boy beside me. To be truthful, I wasn't that afraid of being out here. I had wandered about here numerous times at night, maybe not by myself, always in the company of at least two people, but I had definitely braved this sort of situation before. No, I was only half-scared and the other half of me just wanted to use this Sirius free moment to cling to Severus. Merlin knows when, and if, that idiot would show up and ruin the night by trying to duel the silent boy next to me into St Mungo's again. Yes, I had been slightly gutted when I couldn't find him in the common room or in the entrance hall. But I won't lie and say that a part of me wasn't relieved I couldn't find him anywhere. Especially not after the ridiculous apology I had been harassed for at least an hour straight after the game today. As it turned out, Sirius was not aiming for me with his bludger, but for Vincent 'The Hero' Normandy himself, for hovering around Lexi and I like a fly 'round rubbish. Yeah, it was only a stupid coin of phrase. But hearing him compare me and Lexi to rubbish, struck a chord that made me want to dislike him all over again.

"Are you okay?" I gazed up to see Severus staring at me. His eyes bored down into mine as I felt my head lighten at his gaze. It was almost hypnotic the way his eyes caught mine. Captivating them in their mysterious and sexy glare. How I found his gaze so sexy was beyond me as almost everyone else found it to be one of the most disheartening looks on the planet. I, on the other hand, felt like he could be undressing me with his eyes when he looked at me like this. Well more like hoped he was, as clearly this was all in my imagination and he would never ever picture all the filthy things about me that I was about him at this very moment. He would never be thinking of me naked, and in a compromising position with- "Wh-what did you just say?"

My head cleared of fog as my eyes focussed onto reality once more and caught the sight of a very flustered-looking Severus, who was now a good ten feet away from me and standing with his robes tangled around his legs in a very peculiar fashion as though hiding something. _Oh, God, did I say them things out loud?_ I frantically raised my hand to my lips and began nervously gnawing on my already tattered finger-nails. _He heard me say them things, didn't he? I'm such an embarrassment!_ My eyes darted about the darkness around me. I noticed Hagrid sitting down on a tree stump inspecting some sort of shrub worm with not a clue in the world as to what sort of awkward situation was going on between his two detention-goers at the moment. I was almost hoping for Sirius to show up now and cause a fight, if just to allow me a distraction to slink off and hide in a ditch until the summer. _I wonder how long you can live underground without food? _I shook the absurd thought from my head and stared up at Severus' confused and embarrassed expression once more.

_Think, Olivia, think! What would any normal human being do in this situation? Hmm..._

"I'm sorry for saying such strange things." I giggled nervously. My eyes refused to catch his, scared of his reaction to my nonsense babble. "I ehm-ehm don't think before I speak and anything can come out, really. I'm sure you don't think about me naked at all. I mean who would?" My voice was coming out fast and uneven now as my words began to run together and my mind lost track of its censoring. "It's not like I daydream about you thinking about me all the time. Usually, it's the other way 'round and you're the naked one." I gasped as my cheeks burned hotter than the sun. My mouth began speaking again before I could even stop it. "I mean, we are both naked together. No, no! What I mean is-is... Merlin, I don't know what I mean any more. Just-just forget I even said anything."

By this point my hands had completely covered my face and my body was no longer cold from the winter weather. My whole body burned a thousand degrees hotter than it should be. I didn't dare peek up and see the look of sheer horror and disgust that was on Severus' face. I didn't want to be reminded of how much of a total arse I had just made of myself in front of him. Him, of all people! My teeth gnawed at my bottom lip as my mind fought to either dig my grave now or try to talk myself out of this mess I had made. If that was even humanly possible to do at this stage, that is. I didn't even think I possessed enough gift of the gab to be able to achieve that!

"Glad to know I still have perfect timing." _Oh, God, no! This could not be happening._ I curled my hands tighter round my face as I shook my head. _Maybe I should have taken that elixir myself before coming down here. It seriously couldn't be possible that I would have that much bad luck, could it? _"Care to explain what your rambling about Snivellus being naked was all about? I know it will be horrid for you to recount that spectacle of scrawniness again, but I'm just dying to know what exactly it is that I've managed to miss here."

A horrid choking noise escaped my lips as I felt my breathing stop and my hands get sweaty. I'm definitely never leaving my bed after tonight. Hell, I might just remain bed-ridden until my parents notice that I've not come home after graduation. This could take at least a few weeks after school ends. They aren't that perceptive, after all. My mum would forget where she lived on a regular basis if she didn't have our address written down in her purse.

"Sirius, nice to see yeh finally decided to join us. We best be heading into the forest now, then. Pomona asked us teh get some evergreen moss fer her, so we best be getting a move on," Hagrid boomed over to us suddenly, causing me to grab the opportunity to disappear from my living nightmare and run to the friendly giant's side. My hands left my face, but not once did I chance a look in any other direction but ahead of me, utterly unsure whether the silence around us indicated that Sirius and Severus had murdered each other without me knowing it or were simply lost for words. Right now, I rather hoped the former was true. It would save me having to face them for a while if it had happened, and right now I could do with facing no-one, not even myself.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Here's chapter nineteen. Thanks again to Dee, my wonderful beta. I seem to make the most common mistakes possible and can't imagine how tedious it must be correcting them all the time for me, so thanks. Your little comments about sections in my story also help a ton too. Lol. :]  
Well, i have some news for you guys. I will be on holiday in Paris, from the 16th August until the 23rd August, and wont be writing the week before, during, or after my trip, as i will be majorly busy. Already about 40% done on chapter twenty though, so might be able to post that before i go to keep you wonderfully patient lot occupied until i come back. Lol. :P  
A lot of people might be wondering what i'm planning on doing with the plot after this chapter, but trust me when i say, kisses and such are not far off despite this chapters tone. I have also listened to all those who have put forward their ideas and have tried to include all the ones i loved the best. :] As usual then, please READ and REVIEW! :D**

Chapter Nineteen: The Severe Bad Luck Of Olivia White: Part Two

My heart was clenching and unclenching at the speed of light. I didn't have a clue where to look or what to do as my legs reluctantly followed the overly hairy Hagrid, who still seemed completely oblivious to the tension surrounding us. I felt guilty thinking of Hagrid as stupid, but he was certainly acting like it at this very moment. Then again, I've never been one to spend much time with him in the first place so can't really be one to judge. For all I know, he could just be playing dumb at the moment to avoid setting off the ticking time bombs behind me, where the ever frighteningly quiet Severus and Sirius were doing Merlin knows what to each other without our knowledge.

"Well, think we'd be better splitting up now," Hagrid suddenly boomed as he abruptly stopped in front of me. I practically walked straight into him as my head was still in the clouds with fretful images of what Sirius and Severus were doing to each other. Could they have actually killed each other and we hadn't noticed? If they had, I would have to bring them back to life and then kill them again for being so utterly stupid and selfish. "Woah, watch it, hen!" the giant mumbled as one of his large hands flew out and steadied me back down beside him. He glanced wearily behind him for a few moments before speaking again. "Sirius, you go with Miss Olivia here and look o'er there. Severus and me will be going this way." My eyes bulged out of their sockets as Hagrid moved from my side to where, I'm assuming, Severus was. I wasn't looking up to see for certain though in case my eyes caught a sight of his delectable looking black ones and I fainted on the spot. I couldn't handle the disgust that would be lurking in them just now. I knew he would be utterly disgusted by my slip of words earlier. He didn't like feelings. He had proved that on way too many occasions for it not to ring true. "Oh, and if yehs need me, shoot a red spark in 'eh sky and I will find yehs. Stick to the path to be on 'eh safe side, though."

I nodded hesitantly at the smiling man, before feeling a tight grip on my arm dragging me off and to the left. I assumed it was Sirius, so let my feet drag reluctantly behind me without so much as a sarcastic comment to my attacker. My eyes stayed glued to the passing ground below as my mind tried hard to think of what to say to him. He was going to question me, that was for certain. There was no way on earth he was gonna let the chance of me and him being alone out here pass by without asking at least one hard hitting question. I sighed in defeat as I realised I should have just dropped the Euphoria elixir in his pumpkin juice at dinner and had a perfectly peaceful detention tonight. I assumed though, after how apologetic he had been after the game, and how happy he had been when I had said the bludger incident wasn't a big deal, (although his happiness could have possibly had something to do with Lexi forgiving him and dragging him off somewhere to 'talk' with him for almost a whole hour), that tonight wouldn't be that bad. I glanced up to the tall dark-headed boy next to me to see his jaw tight as though he was grinding his teeth. I gulped. _Oh how naive could I actually be! Of course tonight was never going to go well, Sirius being all doped up and happy or not! This was always going to be a disaster._ I grunted in frustration at my own stupidity for thinking otherwise. Everyone knew Sirius and Severus hated even looking at each other, never mind being forced to participate in detentions together. I'm surprised both have managed not to kill each other so far!

Suddenly we stopped walking, the path below us gone as nothing but leaves and untouched dirt covered the ground beneath our feet. I looked up nervously to see that we were pretty deep into the forest now, something that made me even more uneasy than I was a moment ago. The sky was non-existent here, as trees covered us like a make shift roof from the sky above.

Sirius let go of my arm before sighing heavily, "Well, as much as I would love to start looking for that moss right about now, I think it would be best if you told me the story of why on earth you were rambling on about that _Slytherin_ being naked! Oh, and I hope it involves an explanation over how it was all a big misunderstanding somehow."

I giggled nervously as I began twiddling my thumbs in a childish manner. I felt like a child right now, being chastised by their father for running about with boys I shouldn't. When Sirius had transitioned himself from sexy snogger to brotherly figure, to now condescending father figure, was beyond me. I didn't want to dwell on it though, as it was slightly creepy. One man wasn't supposed to have fitted into so many categories. I put it down to my ever changing teenage brain however. Something I was only now learning to deal with.

Twigs snapped and leaves crunched around us as Sirius moved to stand before me. His hands on his hips like an angry woman readying herself for a rant. He reminded me of my mother suddenly, and then I realised that now was not the best time to add yet another dimension to mine and Sirius' already overly complicated relationship. "_Well?_ I'm hoping it's a good story as I've held off from cursing his balls off for the past half hour just to hear it! If he even has balls, the slimy worm that he is!"

I sighed. _This was it, wasn't it?_ My big revelation time in which I would have to spill the beans on my weird and wonderful crushes and be thrown out of Gryffindor for being a traitor. _Dramatic? Yes a little._ But it certainly felt like it would come to that at this moment in time. Sirius was always one for dramatics himself, so that outcome was highly possible. Therefore I did what anyone in my shoes would do; I lied through my teeth like a yellow-bellied coward. "I don't have a clue what I was talking about. You know me and the random things that spill out my mouth. Utter rubbish half the time! You sure I said naked though? Could of swore I had said something else...something much less specific that that..."

He scoffed loudly before crossing his hands over his chest. His cloak blew open behind him in the wind exposing his jumper-less school uniform and undone tie. I found myself smiling at the sloppiness of his attire for some unknown reason. It was comforting to know that some things would never change, even if we would. It was familiar and reminded me of happier times. Of times when me and him were not arguing over something to do with a certain Slytherin. "You might make some more than imaginative comments, Olivia, but if you think for one minute I'm going to believe _that _just slipped off your tongue or that you stumbled something else out, then you're _way_ more crazy than I first thought!" He sighed heavily as he dragged a hand through his black shiny tresses. He looked tired all of a sudden. Worn and stressed, like something was wearing him down and he was sick of it. I felt my heart reach out to him then. We were supposed to be friends after all, and friends were supposed to be kind to each other and not argue all the time. I felt bad for causing problems between us. For putting distance there, that probably wouldn't be if I didn't fancy Slytherins. "I just don't like the thought of you spending so much time with him. He's an untrustworthy, slimy Slytherin and will do what they do best: hurt people. Betray you, even. They don't care for anyone but themselves, Olivia. They will leave you behind the moment they realise that you're no use to them. You shouldn't be letting him taint your mind with nasty things like that. _I_ shouldn't be letting him taint your mind with horrid images like that! He will be waking up ball-less tomorrow after I'm through with him. Thinking he can put things like that in your head and get away with it. The git..."

"As everyone keeps telling me, I know! He is bad news, slime of the earth and I shouldn't give him the time of day. Heard it all before, Sirius! So please, tell me something that isn't new, yeah?" I sighed as I moved to sit on a large exposed root of a foreboding-looking oak tree. My eyes stared at my shuffling feet as my voice became lowered and honest. "He's not as bad as you think though. Yeah, he's got faults. But so have I. So have you, even! Merlin, no wonder he's horrid half the time with the things you guys do to him. I mean, spreading rumours about him and Filch like that? Really? Did you guys really need to print all those fliers also? Gave me nightmares for days them images did..." My voice lowered even more into a timid whisper, as I debated whether or not to say what I wanted to next. I didn't want to upset Sirius any further, but I felt it was something that needed to be said to show how prejudiced he was being towards Severus. He was letting his own hatred for all things Slytherin interfere with everyone else's views, and it wasn't fair in the slightest. "He isn't Regulus, Sirius. He isn't from a family like yours. He wouldn't betray me like that. Not all Slytherins are like your brother, y'no. They don't all want to be pure-blooded enthusiasts. So what if he has some less than fluffy hobbies? Everyone has dark aspects to them. Severus might even surprise you with his kindness if you and the Marauders ever gave him the chance. He's much more grounded than you all think. He feels regret for doing bad, unlike some people I know of..."

Dark eyes snapped to stare intently into my green ones. I realised then that mentioning his Dark-Arts-loving brother and comparing him to Severus was probably a step too far. We all knew how the word 'family' made Sirius tip over the edge of sanity. I didn't blame him, though. Hell, I would probably hate every Slytherin myself after what he had been put through by his nutty family! I felt the large waves of guilt consume me just for reminding him of it. _What the hell was I thinking mentioning Regulus of all people? Why I couldn't have picked anyone else to have name-dropped, like his cousin Bellatrix or someone less connected to him? Anyone but Regulus. Or his mother. Merlin, if I had chosen his mother I would've probably have been blown to smithereens by his rage about now. She was an incredibly sore spot with him. And with enough reason. The woman was an utter bitch!_

My head snapped behind me as strange noises came from the dark of the trees. I stood and moved closer to Sirius on instinct, my guilt forgotten for now as I grabbed him for security. "Wha-what was that?"

Sirius' wand was out well before I had even asked him the question, the harsh words we had shared not even a moment ago long forgotten as fear consumed us both. He held his wand out protectively before us, light gleaming from the end of it like a muggle torch as it lit up the area surrounding us. The light comforted me little when even though we could now see that there was nothing directly hidden behind the trees, the noise still sounded, and even closer than before.

"Get your wand out."

I quickly did what he demanded, my cold hands fumbling in my robe pockets for my long birch wand. Why I didn't have it out before now was beyond me. Then again, I wasn't the brightest of people when consumed by fear. Everyone else I knew seemed to shine in moments of terror, where as I just seemed to freeze and act like I was immobile and brain dead. A handy trait to have considering there was a war brewing. Can feel me being of great use in it, I am sure!

"What is it? Where's the noise coming from? Should we alert Hagrid? We should alert Hagrid. We should go back to him and Severus." My eyes moved a million miles an hour to every inch of visible scenery around us. I may have been physically shaking with fear and hoping I didn't wet my best pants in public, but I certainly wasn't going to go down without even knowing what the hell was creeping up on us. My fingers ached from the pressure I was placing on Sirius' arm, my chewed nails no doubt leaving odd and deep markings on his defined biceps, as my other hand gripped tightly onto my wand ready to signal for help if something unnaturally beastly appeared from nowhere and fancied us as a midnight treat.

The tension in the atmosphere shifted. Sirius' laughter suddenly barked out around us as the tall boy before me shook with relief and joy. "I can't believe I thought _that_ was going to attack us! _That_, of all things! I fear that I'm loosing my touch."

My eyes scanned the dark forest once more for any sign of what the lummox was indeed chuckling so merry about. "Where you looking at? What is it you see? Oh, please tell me it's been a rabbit all along! I would feel much better knowing I was stupid, rather than proved right and eaten alive!" I squinted my eyes to see through the dark beyond the wand light, but struggled to see anything bar trees and even more trees. _Right Olivia, more carrots for you from now on as your eye sight is matching that of your Gran's. Either that, or I badly need to invest in a lovely pair of un-sexy looking glasses. I wonder if Severus likes his girls with a librarian, nerdy edge to them?_

The same strange rustling noise sounded once more right before us. My eyes widened in shock as there, not even a foot in front of us, stood a tall, gangly stag. It was looking over us both in the strangest of manners. If animals could smile, I was betting it would have been grinning right this moment. Sirius' laughter continued, and for brief moment the question of; _why were big, noisy us not frightening the usually ever cautious deer?_ struck my mind. But I shook my head free of silly matters as those, as I began peeling my nails out from Sirius' arm and took two hesitant steps towards it, before being frozen with fear again and backing off. It could still be dangerous. For once, my mind seemed to be on the right track instead of lost in the clouds as usual.

"It seems we have another detention goer tonight," Sirius smirked knowingly. I gaped bewildered at him for a few moments before my face turned to surprise, as I watched him walk confidently over to the gracious animal without so much as flinching in fear or shock. He nudged it slightly with his left elbow before whispering something to it, which suddenly caused the animal to begin striding merrily over in my direction.

"Eh...Sirius? What-what's going on?" I asked shakingly as I began taking a few awkward steps backwards and away from the ever approaching stag with very dangerous looking antlers. Small, but killer all the same. I had watched animal documentaries; I had seen how they worked. It looked amused by my reaction as its large eyes smiled at me, something I was sure deer weren't supposed to be able to do. I've not seen a lot of deer in person, mind, but I was positive that they, like most other animals, weren't supposed to show expressions. Its dark brown circled eyes continued staring merrily in my direction all the same as though it was the most natural thing in the world. It creeped me out a little. It made it too human, which therefore made it odd, and even more scary some how.

"Oh, it's just some stag that resorts to following us around from time to time when the Marauders and I find ourselves out in the forest." Sirius laughed heartily, appearing casually next to me like this was all natural to him. His crooked smile only seemed to widen as he continued, "We nicknamed him Bambi."

If I wasn't weirded out before by the unusualness of our current situation, I certainly was now when I swore I saw the wild stag shoot Sirius an angry, menacing glare. _Were animals supposed to __be so full of expression and easy to read?_ I had my doubts, although the strange animal did bring a relief to Sirius and my heavy conversation. That alone was enough to make me reach over and stroke its brown coat like it was nothing more than a dog before me. If anything, I shouldn't be scared of the one thing that had just gotten me out of a very awkward argument with the still smirking boy beside me. I should be lapping it with attention and hand feeding it carrots. I was certainly having the strangest of luck tonight. _Maybe I was dreaming all this?_ Nah, I certainly wouldn't be that lucky, or, that crazy even. I had to remind myself that I was indeed in Hogwarts still, and crazy shit like this happened every day and not just to me.

"So..." I began, my hand still stroking the stag with a forced ease I hoped it didn't pick up on. It seemed content enough though, which made me at ease enough to actually open my mouth to speak again. My voice trailed though, as I realised I didn't have anything of actual importance or intelligence to say. This detention was certainly going down in my mind as the most memorable ever, that was for sure. Oh, and the most awkward as well. Never in my life had I wanted to die of shame so much in one night. I cringed at the earlier memory of Severus. Boy had I blown it with him now!

"Well, we could-"

"Eww!" I squealed loudly as I began jumping about on the spot. My hair was on ends as my skin crawled with goose bumps. Surprisingly, the stag didn't even flinch at my movements even if I was now flapping about like my feet were on fire. _Weren't deer supposed to be frightened by their own shadows, they were that scared?_ "What was that? Something furry was climbing up my leg! I could feel it on my jeans. Sirius, get it off me! Get it off me will you!"

Sirius' eyes narrowed as he dropped his gaze to the floor. He neither seemed phased by this present situation. I felt like I was the only sane one, for once. "What the hell is he doing now?"

I continued my little dance of disgust as I shivered a few times at the mere thought of whatever had just crawled its way up my leg was trying to do to me. Suddenly, the sensation happened again near my left foot, causing me to kick my leg out and break contact with something small, furry and squeaking. _Oh please tell me that wasn't what I think it was? Let it be spiders, please? Anything but that! I hated them! I hated rats!_

"Well, that didn't go too well did it? Remind me never to get on the wrong side of you, Olivia. You have one mean left kick!" Sirius laughed slightly, before shining his wand over to a large, ugly rat which was now lying on the leaf-covered ground nursing its face with its grimy little mitts. I grimaced with utter disgust before looking between Sirius, the stag and the ugly rat. _What the hell was wrong with this forest? First the brave and emotion showing stag, and now an ugly, random rat! Remind me never, ever, to come in here again. It was like being on some sort of mind boggling drug experience! _Sirius' face turned serious all of a sudden, as he began walking towards the thing with a look of sorrow on his face. _Did he feel sorry for that thing?_ I felt suddenly heartless as I realised I didn't in the slightest. It was just too...creepy for me not to want to hurt it. I'm a heartless bitch I know. "I'm really sorry, Ollie, but I'm gonna need to go and take him to Kettleburn. He's a boy's pet in the dorm next to ours. Sorry..." he looked to the stag for a minute before continuing, "Bambi over there will keep you company and make sure you don't get lost. I know too well how your sense of direction is."

He looked torn for a split second, before he smirked one last time in my direction and grabbed the scabby rat and was gone. Leaving me alone with an intimidatingly smiling stag for company, and nothing but darkness surrounding me. Forget feeling guilty about mentioning Regulus to Sirius earlier, I was raging at him now and was going to bloody murder him for abandoning me tonight, here of all places_! I swear to God, he was going to get more than a right earful later on when I saw him. I mean who the hell just leaves a person with a randomly wild stag? _

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

"Dragon fightin' is getting too common these days. People thinkin' they can control them is absurd! Everyone knows dragons just need a bit o' love an' affection and they will be eating right out yer palms."

I was only faintly listening to what the half-breed was rambling on and on about, as my mind was elsewhere at the moment. We had been walking through the dense forest for a good half an hour now and so far had only managed to gather a few handfuls of moss each. If my head wasn't so preoccupied at the minute, I would have noted to the idiotic giant a while back that the best moss was over in the direction he had sent Black and..._her_ off to. I couldn't even bear to think her name. It was torture. My muscles tensed and my mind swam with a thousand different questions and answers. I felt my pace slow behind the giant. There had to be a reason why she had thought what she had. No-one in their right mind would have been thinking such things about me without a good reason. I felt myself harden as the smallest trickle of hope entered my mind. _Could she have been genuinely interested in me? In my-my body?_ I shook my head forcefully. N_o, there was no way someone like __**her **__would be looking at __**me**__ in that way. She was a Gryffindor. A stupid, arrogant, beautifully enticing...Gryffindor._ I uttered a low groan as my current train of thoughts continued to plague my mind.

"...an Austrian Shorthorn is 'eh kind I always liked. That, an' the Norwegian Ridgeback. Beauties they are. Lively beasts an' all!"

Why was she thinking that about _me _though? I mean, did she want me to be thinking of her in such a way also? Did she want my eyes to notice every womanly curve on her body? Every brief exposure of her pierced, glittering belly button? Every flash of her milky delicious thighs? If she did, I could list more than a dozen moments when I had thought of nothing more in the last few weeks alone. I had realised after Halloween that I was attracted to her unknowingly sultry ways. More than once I found myself in the Sytherin bathrooms relieving the unbearable tension thoughts of her caused me. I had become quite a dab hand in cleaning spells recently, which I am sure will be of no use to me in a few years time when I grow out of my immature hormones.

"...always had a fascination with animals, I have. Would love to try my hand at teaching 'bout them one day. Not like that would ever happen, but there's no harm in thinkin' it could, is there now?"

I can't recall a time that I have ever felt so confused about something. I was usually always set in my ways, my decisions were always thought out and checked before I dove in and took any leaps. I had never had many regrets in my life. There were things I wished had never happened, but nothing much that I wished I could'vedone differently and changed. Lily had always been my biggest regret. I had never felt so ashamed in myself than when I had unintentionally uttered those words to her. I told myself that I would never forget the heart wrenching look on her face, that nothing could ever replace it. Then bounded Olivia White into my life, and almost every other regret I had ever had was in relation to her. I regretted giving her the cold shoulder in our first Potions class. I regretted not staying to help her with her Potions essay in the Library. I even regretted not touching her, grabbing her for a second longer, our first detention together in Slughorn's classroom. Yes, Olivia White, I was finding, was replacing a lot of my most treasured memories of Lily in such a short space of time. My mind drifted to the scoffing Lily Evans in Defence class the other day. The look of disgust that marred her usually soft features, as her fierce green eyes glared harshly down on Olivia's back, made me question everything I had ever known about Lily Evans. _I_ was the one to sulk and glare at people. _I_ was the one to hold grudges against people for meaningless things. _Not_ my precious flower Lily. She had changed. She was different now. Conceited like every other girl in this school. Common almost. Olivia had shown me that. In the past few months, she had shown me a lot of things I had never known before. Friendship being the most important one. We weren't the way Lily and I were, no. Lily would always be trying to change my moods and make me do things I didn't like. No, Olivia and I were closer than that. We shared similar interests and abilities Lily and I never had in common. She accepted my harsh comments as though they were nothing to her, and never chastised me for them like Lily had. Her overly happy essence seemed to compliment my darkening moods, unlike Lily's fiery temper and need to do things her way which used to consume me almost. Smother me until I was no longer my true self, but a much more tamer version that she could handle.

"We best be heading back soon. Dumbledore said to only keep yehs out for a few hours. The forest ain't a place for students to be wandering around in as it is."

I showed no outward emotions or response to Hagrid's plain words. My legs had been walking of their own accord the past hour with him, as my head was lost in space and thought. I had never in my lifetime zoned out of a situation so deeply that I couldn't even recall what was being said or exactly where I was. I felt my arms droop all of a sudden and looked down to see that they were now full with moss. How I had been so engrossed with my thoughts to not notice the giant loading my arms with all this was inexcusable. Nothing, or no-one for that matter, had ever consumed my mind the way tonight's events with her had. Not even after I had ruined my friendship with Lily did I ever spend such a length of time consumed in thought.

"Right, that should do it I think," the large cross-breed of a man huffed beside me before turning and walking off in the opposite direction. "Best get the other two first then head back. They will be workin' hard still I'm sure."

It was then, as my feet began moving once more across the cold and frosty ground beneath me, that a realisation hit me. I felt my chest constrict slightly with the weight of it. How I hadn't noticed something as important and obvious as this before was infuriating. I had feelings for White. I felt more for her than just a teenage boy's hormonal attraction. I had felt jealousy every time she was with Black or Potter, or anyone male for that matter. I had stood to save her from loosing her pixie smiling face earlier at the game as I cared what happened to her safety. I lusted for her mind as much as I lusted after what was hiding under her Gryffindor robes, as I cared about her opinions more than I should. There was a reason I let her get away with purging her stomach contents over me and crossing my touch barriers with her small, ever wandering hands. I liked her. A lot more than I should. More than I had Lily, and that sat uneasily with me. I thought I had loved Lily once. I couldn't chance ruining another relationship with someone who could actually stand being around me. I couldn't handle the emotional turmoil of having her hate me the way Lily had. I felt overwhelmed enough knowing that she could possibly like me in the same way. The thought of her hating my guts like the rest of the other righteous Gryffindors was sickening.

I caught a glimpse of red and black sitting on a severed tree as we approached a clearing. I lowered my eyes not wanting to meet her sparkling green gaze in case they could see the emotions I was trying so hard to keep hidden. I couldn't chance her knowing how I felt towards her. My mind had become set the moment I saw her sitting there. It didn't matter how I felt for her any more, as we could never be. It was a fluke, the things she had thought about me tonight; it had to be. And, even if it wasn't, that was just more of a reason to go through my plan of action. I couldn't drag her into my life. I couldn't hurt her like I had Lily. I couldn't lead her on only to crush her even more later once we had gotten even more attached to each other. No, it was best to sever things now while I could still think straight.

I heard the half-breed grounds keeper mumble something to her causing her to remove herself from her sitting position and make her way over towards me. She gazed a few times behind her sceptically, before letting her gaze trail at her feet shyly. I kept my rigid frame and downcast gaze just the same. I even felt my right arm instinctively grasp my left as I attempted to tighten my grip on my wavering emotions. There was nothing there, yet. But it served as a harsh reminder to me of why I needed to keep my cool exterior and follow through with my plan. I couldn't fail now when I knew there was so much at stake. My gaze lifted to stare into her green innocent orbs as I forced my face to harden and a sneer leave my throat. My insides instantly panged with guilt as I debated over if this was the right thing to do after all, my intellect finally winning over my heart and telling me I was doing the right thing in pushing her away. She was getting to close to me as it was, and if I ever was to protect her from myself, I needed to sever that bond, and quickly. Soon we would be out of school and I would be caught up in a sinister world that I was sure not even her brightest smile would be able to withstand. She accepted my sneers and my hateful remarks to her and others, but I knew that not even she would never be able to accept the other side of me. No-one could. It was the reason I had chosen to seek them out in the first place; they were the only ones to ever understand me. To accept me fully and wholly. Her evergreen orbs wavered minutely in my hardened gaze, before a single solemn tear slid down her downtrodden face. It was then that I knew what my biggest regret in life was going to be; it was ever allowing the beautiful girl before me to become close to me, only to crush her heart in the end. Even if it was the smartest thing to do, it felt utterly wrong now it had been done and was irreversible.

Her shoulders collided with mine as she pushed past me harshly, and I felt my heart sink. Olivia White was most certainly never going to talk to me again, and even though it was all for the best, I couldn't help myself for wishing that she would defy logic and speak to me all the same. I couldn't help but think my life would now be much bleaker without her quirky smiles and words to brighten my ever darkening days.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: So I managed to get this chapter out for you guys before i go. Big thanks to my beta, DZAuthor, as usual who made this update possible! Anyways, thats me for the next week or so. I promise i won't leave you guys hanging too long though for the next update once i'm back. :P  
**

**Au revoir! Lol.**

Chapter Twenty: Feigning Ignorance

One week. One whole week had passed and I was just as angry and upset as ever. I don't even know why I was so upset to begin with. It was inevitably always going to happen. I mean, as if he would ever see anything more to me than his annoying Potions partner! Anything more than just a measly Gryffindor, friend of the Marauders and annoying chatterbox. Sometimes I wished I wasn't even in Gryffindor. I mean, I didn't have any traits to belong in the house anyway. _Brave? Pfft! The only time I'm brave is when I'm physically forced to be by someone else. Honourable? Merlin, I lie almost on a daily basis to everyone! I was never true to anyone either for that matter. I've been going behind my loyal friends' backs for months now trying to seduce a certain Slytherin who they all hated. Not very loyal to them, is it? I'm starting to think that when the Sorting Hat told me that I didn't need to be sorted into Gryffindor, it might just have been right. Then again, after all, it's nonsense talking about the other houses; it did shout out Gryffindor's name as its final choice. It was the law around here for where to go. Maybe it wasn't as wise as everyone thought, though?_ Merlin, I need to stop these internal arguments with myself. I've been doing nothing but arguing with myself since last Saturday and I was sick to death with it. _Who knew you could hate the tone of your own voice so badly? I certainly didn't, until recently._

"You don't look so well Olivia. You sure you don't want anything to eat?"

I brought myself out of my depressing thoughts and forced a smile onto my ashen face for my best friend's benefit. She had done nothing but worry about me since I had come storming into our dorm after my disastrous detention last week. I could see she knew something had gone on that had upset me somewhat, but she didn't pry for once which I was more than grateful of. Sirius hadn't bothered to mention what happened in our detention either to Lexi or, for that matter, to me ever again. It was almost as though he had forgotten all about the naked comments I had made about Severus. Highly unlikely, but I wasn't really in the mood to care much about what he was plotting on doing about it all just now. I had bigger fish to fry. I had to pretend to everyone that I was all merry and chipper as usual when I was fuming and dying inside. Worst of all, though, I had to continue to sit next to Severus in Potions and pretend that every scowl he sent my way nowadays didn't bother me at all, when in fact I had never been more hurt in my entire life. Never before had I been able to see how his looks could chill people to the bone. Now I felt like I was even above James and Sirius on his "to murder" list. I had never seen someone look so tortured to be in my company before. It was utterly depressing.

I eyed Lexi's frowning face before smiling once more. "I'm fine. Just not too hungry today. Think I ate too much chocolate last night. Feel kinda sick."

My laugh sounded lifeless even to me. Lexi didn't say anything about it, though; she just eyed me cautiously once more before facing her own plate of muesli and continued eating. I eyed the wooden table before me with worry as I began following the grain on it with my undecorated fingers. Why was his reaction bothering me so much? Its not like I expected him to come running over and sweep me off into the dungeons for some extra-curricular activities after he had heard me rambling about him being naked and Merlin knows what else. I couldn't remember what else I had said, but I knew it had something to do with the both of us being naked. I didn't want to dwell on it, though; it only made me squirm at the thought of how disgusted he must have been to hear me say those things. _Why did I have to go and open my big mouth and spoil things as usual?_ We were getting on perfectly well together as friends and then I have to go and blurt out sex comments to him and scare him away from me like I had the plague or something. I was a total idiot. A moron even for letting my thoughts slip freely past my lips without even knowing I had done it. I usually remembered when I uttered crazy things like that, but this time I couldn't even remember my lips moving to voice my thoughts aloud. It was almost as if he could sense what I was thinking, but that would be absurd. People can't read other people's minds that easily, even in a school as crazy and as far-fetched as this!

An arm draped heavily over my shoulders.

"Defacing school property is against the rules y'no? I should report you to James for doing that." I looked over to see Sirius sitting next to me now instead of Lexi, who was on his other side smiling happily at his unexpected interruption.

"I think you and James would have a cheek to do anything to me considering the amount of school property you guys deface on a regular basis. Filch and McGonagal hate yous for it," I mumbled out half heartedly as my nails stopped scratching little snake-like lines into the wood before me.

"You're just jealous that we get away with stuff and you don't." His eyes smiled warmly down at me as his hand squeezed my shoulder in a comforting way. "You feel like skipping class today and doing something exciting instead? Potion brewing must be awfully boring in those dark dungeon classrooms, not to mention the horrid fumes. My complexion wasn't made to be stuck in places like that."

A real smile ghosted my lips as I realised that he was inadvertently looking out for me without his usual show of bravado. "Nah, I'm fine. Besides, I like a good potion brewing session in the mornings. Wakes you up having to walk all the way down to them underground chambers and then do a good arm workout with all the stirring. Helps my bingo wings."

"Are you sure you can't give your Monday work out session a miss today and come skip stones in the Black Lake with me instead? Not even tempted? " He eyed me sceptically before I shrugged his shoulder off my arm and rolled my eyes at his brotherly protectiveness.

"I'm sure." I smiled reassuringly to him before grabbing my bag from under the table and standing to leave. "I better get off so I'm not late. My tardiness is really starting to grate on Slughorn and I don't fancy pushing my luck much more with him. I'm sure he's head of Slytherin for more reasons than just his greediness with sweets, and I really don't fancy chancing being on the receiving end of them traits".

A chorus of byes followed after me as I walked out the Great Hall and headed down to the class I was now dubbing my 'living hell'. I had skipped most of my potions classes last week in fear of facing them knowing that he would be there. I could deal with seeing him in my other classes; Lexi and the others were in them and I could choose to focus on someone else with force and not see his murderous glares or hateful eye contact, but I was helpless in Potions. I was alone, with nothing but mere inches between him and I, and I had to talk to him. Like actually open my mouth and form words to him which I was really quite unable to do recently. You couldn't brew a potion with someone and not speak to them at least once. It was just undo-able!

My feet dragged as I huffed my way closer to the door of Slughorn's classroom. I was a good ten minutes early and knew he would most likely be in there himself or with Slughorn. I wanted to face neither at the present moment. I was so over detentions after last Saturdays, and although I had forced myself to crawl out of bed this morning with the objective of facing the handsome Slytherin and not turning into some heart broken idiot, I didn't have nerves of steel- or a heart of stone. My courage was definitely wavering as I outstretched my sweaty palm and grabbed the door handle. I took a sharp, deep breath and plastered a smile on my face as I strode into the classroom like last week had never happened at all. Damn, I should really join a Muggle drama group.

"Miss White! Glad to see you have joined us today. I am sure you-" Slughorn grunted out as soon as I stepped through the threshold until I rudely cut his ranting off with an apology. As I made my way deeper into the clammy, dark room, I forced my eyes not to trail too long on the dark figure slumped over my desk.

"Professor, I just want to say that I'm really, really sorry for missing last week's classes and I promise to never do so again. Professor McGonagall has already lectured me on my lack of attendance, and I can assure you she has punished me already. Severely. Again, I really am sorry for missing my classes. No excuse can explain my absence to you fully. So, sorry..."

Slughorn looked aghast with my sudden interruption. I know I probably shouldn't have cut him off, but I had been seriously ladled into by McGonagall on Friday, been given another week's bout of detentions with her, and then been forced to promise that I would find a Potions tutor to help me catch up with missed classes. Little did she know that I already had one who was ironically the whole reason I was avoiding my Potions classes in the first place. In the end though, I had to reluctantly agree to her protests and tell her Severus had already agreed to see me Wednesday evenings, something that seemed to slightly shock her for some reason. Maybe it was just the unusualness of hearing that I had taken initiative for once instead of being nagged by someone into doing it. Things like that did always leave her speechless. If only she knew the real reason for me wanting to see him outside classes, though. I think her reaction might have been something close to scandalous, what with her infamous rages. Or, she could just faint with anger. Amusing thought!

"We-well, if Minerva has already spoken to you, I suppose you should just take a seat, then, Olivia." Slughorn's tone was confused- baffled almost- as he ruffled through his desk at the front of the class, busying himself after our conversation. He coughed a few times before straightening the bright yellow waistcoat under his cloak and addressing me once more with eye contact, "Be sure it never happens again, though, or I will be forced to ask you to leave my class. Permanently."

I nodded to him in understanding before taking my seat next to the other person in the room. My breathing hitched as I sat down next to him, our bodies practically touching; we were that close to each other. I thought long and hard about what I had planned to say to him today. I had stayed up half the night mulling it over and over again until I had fallen into an uneasy and restless sleep. I breathed heavily as I tried my best to try and calm my shattered nerves. _What is he going to do when I start talking to him? How is he going to react to what I hope to say to him?_ These and many other worrying questions continued to cloud up my mind until I coughed loudly enough for the dark haired boy next to me to look up from his notebook and face me. His eyes widened in surprise for a split second as his face looked almost hopefully down at my own. Before I could even blink, however, his face and eyes were as calm and composed as ever and were staring me down, hard and cold like we had never been friends.

I ducked my head so my hair covered my face from view and began grabbing at my hands for some sort of encouragement and support before I finally opened my mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

_**Sorry**. She's sorry?_

Her words rang out in my head like a bell as I stared dumbfounded over at her downcast head and slumped shoulders. _Why the hell was she sorry? I was the one who was being mean and pushing her away, succeeding in my plan judging by her recent absence from this class. So why, of all things, was __**she**__ apologising to __**me**__?_

A small feminine noise sounded from her before she shook her glossy red hair and elaborated on her apology. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable and saying them-them things during detention last Saturday. It's fine that you don't want to be friends any more. I understand. I wouldn't want to be friends with someone as crazy as me, either." The smallest of forced laughs escaped her lips as her head ducked even lower from view. "Anyways, I just wanted to say "no hard feelings", is all, and I hope... can we still continue to work together during classes without being uncomfortable? A-and possibly still work together in our-our personal potions lessons as well?"

_What is it with this girl that always leaves me speechless?_ No-one else had ever left me lost for words the way she did. She seemed to be able to stun me into complete silence any time that she wanted. It was intriguingly sexy. It was ex- No. It was nothing. Nothing but curious and we all know what curiosity does to people. It gets them killed, or so my filthy Muggle father likes to say.

Without warning she lifted her innocent green eyes to mine and seemed to look deep into my very soul. I felt exposed on so many levels which I never knew were possible. It was almost as though she was as accomplished in Legilimency as myself, but that would be highly unlikely. If she was as skilled as me, she would have known long before now how torn my feelings about her were. She would have been able to see that I wasn't meaning to hurt her deliberately by pushing her away just now, but I was doing this out of care and worry for her safety. Her green orbs, however, did nothing but continue to look glumly into my now-wavering hardened glare. A few more minutes and I knew I would be nothing but thawed ice, willing to run any course of action she directed me to. I removed my gaze from hers and returned to scribbling in my notebook.

She sighed sadly before moving to get her own notebook and things from her bag. "It's fine. I will just have to ask someone else to tutor me at Potions, then..."

My head cocked up at her words, alarmed and afraid of her sentence as I recalled that every one in our class was of Slytherin sorting, bar her and two unsavoury Ravenclaws. I took in her resigned body, slumped and defeated over the desk before us like she had just been given the worst news of her life. I couldn't control my upset at seeing her so glum, and the words flowed from my mouth before I knew I had even thought them.

"I will continue helping you Wednesday evenings in Potions." Her head snapped to mine as a ghost of a smile tugged at her lips trying to break free. I forced myself not to smile at how simple a statement could cause her so much happiness. Instead, I decided to elaborate on my earlier sentence. "No-one else in this class is experienced enough to help you, so I shall keep to my word and stick to our plans until you show improvement."

Her smile fully formed at my direct statement and I found myself having to turn away from her gaze as the smile that I was fighting broke through. The door of the classroom opened and several students pounded in and began taking their seats, intruding on our private discussion. This, as always, did little to restrain the now happy Gryffindor beside me. "Thank you, Severus, so so much! I was afraid that I would need to find someone else to help me and that you wouldn't want to talk to me ever again. Sometimes I just over think th-"

"If you could stop babbling on for just a moment, I would like to state that I am only doing this to help myself and not for your benefit at all. I don't like to leave things to chance, especially my grades in a class like this, and therefore, I shall need you to be fully clued in for us to work professionally together."

I expected my sharp reasoning to wipe the toothy grin off her face and depress her once more, but it had the opposite effect entirely and only caused her to smile wider at my words- something that, although I would never admit aloud to her, made me thankful. I didn't want to be the one to upset her again or be the cause of gloom in her life, so I was extremely thankful of her ability to shrug of my icy tones like they were nothing but mere words. Which was exactly what they were: meaningless words.

"It's fine. I understand perfectly. I'm such a butterfingers sometimes and you don't me want to mess up. Point taken." She smiled sweetly over at me just as the bell began ringing and Slughorn's voice droned from the front of the room beginning class. "You don't know how happy you have made me just now, though, by saying that. So thanks. You didn't have to still help me out, so I appreciate it. Greatly..."

I nodded firmly in response, not entirely trusting my ability to speak at the moment in case something unwarranted slipped from my tongue. The last thing I needed was to go back on my whole plan. Agreeing to keep the private lessons with her wasn't exactly what I had hoped to do. But it didn't mean that I had to now scrap my whole plan and just admit my feelings for her and drag her down with me. No, I would just use those Wednesdays to sit quietly, brooding in her company while still being able to keep a distance from her. No more civilities towards her or calling her by her first name. Nothing but blunt directness to assure myself that my scheme would succeeded. If nothing else, I had to assure myself that she would stay out of my personal life as much as I could bear.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

I sat humming a little ditty to myself as I loaded my plate up with a cheese sandwich and slurped from my overflowing large bowl of soup. I was utterly famished from skipping breakfast this morning and felt like I could eat the whole lunch menu if I wanted. Unfortunately, I didn't want to look like a complete cow in front of my class mates so I resorted to stuffing my face with soup instead. My hips could get away with that.

"I see someone's appetite has returned to full health. Sadly though, I don't know whether or not to be happy about it. It means I have to, yet again, be seen eating next to a complete pig."

"You like pigs! You said they were cute!"

"Yes, pig-**lets. **Not pigs themselves, or people who eat like ones, for that matter. You've got tomato soup all down the front of your robes, by the way. Totally sexy look, Olivia."

I hovered the overloaded spoon inches from my face as I glanced down at my soup-covered exterior with a frown. It wasn't overly messy, but I had definitely dribbled down myself more than a seventeen-year-old female should have. I wasn't as embarrassed about it as I ought to be mind; I was too happy just now to care what the hell I looked like. I had a free period next, anyway, so I had time to change if need be. I wasn't too brilliant at cleaning spells...

Lexi rolled her eyes at my shrugging shoulders before smiling knowingly at me. "Someone's in a much happier mood compared to late. I assume you managed to slime your way out of detentions with Slughorn, then?"

I nodded proudly as I finished my soup and started stuffing my sandwich into my eager mouth. "Told him old Mc G had already lectured me to death already about the importance of attending classes. He seemed quite shocked at my directness, which I found funny. Since when have I ever been anything but direct?"

Lexi's laughter joined my own snorty chortle. "That is true. If someone had a second head growing out of their neck you wouldn't bat an eye lid at them, but just go over and ask who their new friend was and say hello to it."

I nodded happily in agreement as I continued to munch my lunch. Lexi nibbled delicately on her own avocado salad now and again between laughs, trying her best not to dribble French dressing down herself and look like me. My laughter died down after a bit and I felt my gaze wander over to the Slytherin table for the first time in a long while. I knew Severus wouldn't be there; Avery had dragged him away after Potions for some reason or another. I didn't like Avery and his sense of humour much. Too much like Mulciber, only more slimy and less thug like. He was like a cruel, slippery snake that always seemed to be present the moment anything bad happened. I sighed as I thought of how much of a conundrum I was in at the moment. I was at ends with myself over whether or not to keep pursuing my ridiculous fantasy over Severus or not. I mean, it was still perfectly clear that I wasn't on the top of his list of friends, but clearly he still liked me on some sort of level considering he agreed to continue with our Wednesday potion lessons. Yeah, he claimed it was just so he didn't fail in class when we had to brew potions in pairs, but I knew him well enough to know that Severus Snape doesn't associate with anyone unless he wants to. He was smart enough to brew them potions himself and fix any mistake my slippery hands might make, so there had to be more to it than just assuring he got Outstanding in his Potions N.E.W.T at the end of the year. _Or did it? I mean, was I just over-analysing everything in order for me to hope that he didn't just hate my guts and want to save his grades?_ Either way, I was at a loss of what to do with the news of still being able to spend Wednesday evenings with him. I didn't know whether to be opportunistic and happy, or distant and regretful over it all.

"Something else happened in Potions, didn't it ,Ollie?" I snapped my head to Lexi's curious expression as I raised an eyebrow at her in bewilderment. "You have been staring over at that Slytherin table for the past ten minutes now in a total dream state. Not only does that seem to be frightening the little Slytherin first year in your line of sight, but also tells me that something else happened in Potions. Something involving a certain Slytherin who isn't here at lunch, most likely?"

I sighed heavily as my body slumped into the bench beneath me. All the weighted troubles that had been lifted off my shoulders from finally being able to speak to Severus not even an hour ago had been brought back double force.

Before I could even speak, however, Lexi's angry tones filtered the air around me. "If he has said anything to you, seriously, I will castrate him. He doesn't know what he's turned down in someone like you. Any guys would be ecstatic that you of all people have taken notice in them, never mind him. He should just be happy someone took notice in him at all and count his blessings that it was someone as wonderful as you."

I stared at her reddening face and narrowed eyes until I swallowed what I had planned to say and burst out in laughter. Loud, real, raucous laughter. "Well, thanks for the compliments, Lexi, but I doubt many people see it that way. No-one would be counting their blessings after they had found out I fancied the arse off them! In fact, they would probably all do what Severus is doing now and run a mile. Even I wouldn't want me as a romantic pursuer, and that's saying something!"

Her shocked face turned to amusement as she began to laugh silently with me. "Well, you do come on a bit strong, I must say." More laughter escaped me as my eyes rolled at her truthful statement. "But still, anyone would be lucky to have you. Your one of the most pretty girls in Hogwarts."

"Wouldn't be hard with ugly mugs like you clouding up the place," I sarcastically scoffed, knowing full well Lexi was actually one of the most beautiful girls in Hogwarts, certainly the best to offer in my opinion, anyway, and I can be quite judgemental at times when it comes to girls. Adolescencent jealousy I like to call it. Comes with the hormones, and the periods. All part of being a girl.

"Ha ha, very funny!" she scoffed back at me before pushing her half-eaten salad away from her and crossing her legs. "You know full well what I meant, so cut the sarcasm."

I smiled ruefully at her as I made a sweeping motion through the air with my left hand. "Sarcasm officially cut."

She raised her arched brow at me before speaking, this time her tone more solemn which made me sigh in defeat. "Seriously though, Olivia, if he upsets you again, I'm turning him into a Ken doll. No discussions."

"He didn't even say anything to me today! Well, nothing upsetting, anyway. Quite the opposite in fact..."

She looked at me to elaborate further before leaning her head in closer. I lowered my tone to a more private level. "He agreed to continue our private potion lessons. Said he doesn't give up on things and whatnot and that he would continue for the benefit of our grades. Was actually quite nice of him considering how much of an embarrassment I must of made of him last week. I knew he wasn't that heartless..."

Lexi moved uncomfortably next to me a few times before moving even closer towards me. If people hadn't known that we were talking to each other, they probably would have thought that we were snogging each other, we were so close. I laughed mentally at the thought of some of the boys' faces in the room if they looked over and caught us. "I know that tone, Olivia. That's the tone you usually put on when you're trying to convince people of something that even you ain't too sure about. I know that tone too well, and I know where it can lead." She raised one of her pristine eyebrows at me, telling me she was referring to the mess I was currently in with Severus. It instantly reminded me of the first day of term when I had been rambling on to her about how he wasn't that bad a person and how everyone can make mistakes sometimes. I remembered how I had fully believed what I had said then, and I knew that I still did now. _Who was to say that he didn't regret what he had done Saturday and just didn't know how to make it normal again between us two?_ I mean, he was human and made rash decisions. I had proof enough of that. _So who was to say he hadn't made one during our detention?_ Lexi's almond slits eyed me critically before she spoke once more, her tone even lower than before so it was just above that of a faint whisper. "Just don't get carried away with yourself, Olivia. I think he's proved how much he cares about you after how he's ignored you the past week, even after you two spent all that time together getting to know each other and becoming 'friends'. People don't do them sorts of things to people they consider their friends, Olivia. Think about that one before you go running off with crazy ideas. If he liked you at all, even if just as a partner in potions, he wouldn't of been so rude and mean to you last week. It's cruel, and you need to remember that before you get ahead of yourself."

Lexi's heartfelt words fell on deaf ears, though, as I felt my mind was already made up. She didn't know him the way I did. She didn't know how complicated he was, and how he would say some things that most people thought were rude but were simply just facts and truth. She didn't see how he could say things to you which had more than one meaning, how his tone might be harsh and cold, but the words spoken were friendly and warm. No, no-one saw them things but me, as no-one was willing to give Severus the time of day but me. And I wasn't about to join that group and let him rot alone in misery. No, if today had showed me anything, it had showed me that I needed to change my plan of action_. So what if he doesn't see me the way that I see him. That doesn't mean I have to abandon all ties with him, does it?_ Nope! And I wasn't going to anyway. His agreement of wanting to be seen with me out of class times had made me think that he does care about me. He wouldn't have agreed otherwise, no matter what anyone else was going to keep telling me about it. I would make them see that. _I will prove them wrong. Severus Snape isn't just an untrustworthy Slytheirn. He's human, with emotions and feelings and everything. They will see that eventually. I will make sure of that._


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: I'm baaaack! Lol. Did yous miss me? I hope so! Haha :P Okay, cheesy moment over, here is the next chapter! It's mostly a filler but, like most of my readers seem to be wondering, it is leading to a slightly steamier than usual next chapter. So hopefully you lot can hang on in until then. :P Anyways, big thanks to **DZAuthor** as usual for Beta-ing for me. :] Please **_read_** and **_review_**!**

Chapter Twenty-One: Lily's a Werewolf!

My wrist cracked as I clumsily flicked my wand before me and mumbled incoherent words under my breath as though they were hidden secrets of mine that I didn't want to be made public. I was rubbish at charms and was still struggling with the Freezing Charm even after a double period of practising it this morning. I leaned further into the stone stairs that I was currently sitting on causing the thin layer of frost that covered them to seep further through my woollen tights and chill my alabaster thighs underneath. I usually never wore tights unless it was absolutely necessary. I didn't like how they made me look like I was ten and going to public school again like any other ordinary little child. Instead, I was just a seventeen-year-old witch who couldn't bear to freeze another day in her knee high socks. Fashion was easily sacrificed for comfort in my world, unlike my best friend who was currently still sporting a bum-skimming school skirt and bare legs in mid November. How she hadn't caught the flu by now was beyond me, although she was much better at body warming spells than I was. Hence the real reason why I was condemned to wearing rhino-skin-thick tights at my age: my crappy Wizards skills!

"Sorry I was late. I, uhm, slept in this morning..."

I cocked an eyebrow in apprehension at the tall boy's reply. Remus hardly ever slept in as he was the one who was responsible for getting the other three out of bed and dressed in time for classes. He was the Marauder version of Lily Evans, only much more polite and kind. The last time Lily had woken me up, last Monday to be precise, she had conjured a cup of cold water to be thrown over my head in bed. And she only went out her way to do that because McGonagall was on her case for being Head Girl and not doing enough to stop me from missing classes. Needless to say, the next day she woke up to the same rude awakening she had given me, only I had used a bucket instead of a cup. Her shocked expression alone was worth the loss of house points I had gotten.

"Wow, Sirius and the others must of actually crawled out their beds of their own free will this morning, then, as I saw Peter and James in charms just now." I smirked as I peeled my frozen butt off the stairs and made my way over to the boy before me. My expression dropped however when I realised a flaw in Remus' story. "Didn't none of them wake you up? I can't imagine the three of them would of just let you sleep in like that. They know how much you love school and all."

Remus scratched the back of his neck awkwardly before coughing and changing the subject. "So how was Potions Monday, then? Everything go smoothly?"

My suspicion was quickly replaced with delight, and then embarrassment, over having to now talk about Severus with the curious boy walking in sync beside me. "It was fine. Easy, if you must know. I got fifty points Monday for being the first one to finish brewing a successful potion, although Severus got seventy points for his being better than mine even though his took ten minutes longer to complete. It was pretty flawless, mind, where as mine was just the slightest shade of darker brown than it should have been."

"Did you and Severus have to change partners, then?" Remus asked, shock evident on his forlorn face. I eyed his reactions with suspicion again. He was acting like he knew something more than he was letting on and I didn't like it.

"No. I'm still his partner. It was just a singular potion brewing lesson, nothing overly shocking about it or unusual."

He smiled knowingly at me as he nodded his head in reply.

His actions were really starting to annoy me now. I wasn't overly good friends with the gangly Gryffindor for many reasons, the biggest being his overly aloof personality. He would raise his eyebrow in a knowing way to almost everything while his mouth remained tightly shut. It was aggravating to someone as nosy as me. I found it too easy to fall out with him sometimes over it.

"I'm annoying you, aren't I?" He casually asked as his heavily lidded eyes crinkled in delight at my childish frown. "I don't know anything interesting, I swear. But I had an inkling that Severus wouldn't of been able to keep being angry at you for much longer. Even he isn't that cruel."

My brow crinkled in confusion as I quickened my pace to keep up with Remus' long strides. "What's that supposed to mean then? I thought you hated Severus?"

The sandy-haired boy sighed slightly before rubbing his temple in frustration. "I don't hate him, not as much as James and Sirius do anyway. I just think that he is, well, misunderstood per say. I think there is a lot going on with him that makes him act the way he does. We all have dark parts in our lives..." His eyes crinkled closed for a moment before he opened them again, a small smile on his thin lips as he spoke once more. "I think he likes you, you know. That's why he has been acting so mean to you recently. He doesn't know how to act around you any more now he knows how he feels. It's what boys do when they like a girl."

My eyes darted to the frosty grass below the moment the words had left his mouth. _How embarrassing could this get? I am seriously not talking about me and Sev with Remus Lupin of all people. No, it was never going to happen._

An airy laugh graced my ears as I looked up to see Remus chuckling down at me. His ashen face looked extremely young when he laughed, the many mysterious scars covering it seeming to disappear every time he did so. I couldn't help the smile that made its way onto my own lips as I nudged the light hearted boy beside me, chastising him slightly as I did so. "You're so embarrassing, you know that? Only you could come up with something as crazy as that, then have the brass-neck to go and tell me about it!" I giggled slightly as I shook my head at his absurd but wonderfully hopeful reasonings. I opened my red lips to speak again, my voice much lower this time as I noticed how near the green houses we were. "Besides, I thought boys stalked the girls they liked? Or is that only James?" Remus rolled his eyes before laughing with me. "Seems to have paid off mind. Lily is obsessed with him now. Most likely cause she has him wrapped around her bony fingers though. You should hear some of the crazy things she says she has made him do for her. Its mental!"

"Lily _is_ a bit strong willed at times..." I raised my eyebrow in a 'What, really?' way causing Remus to sigh before continuing his defence of the red hot head. "Well, maybe a little pushy, also, but I think they are made for each other. She's just coming to terms with the fact that James isn't just an obnoxious fool, while he is still struggling to believe that Lily is actually his girlfriend. Give them another month, and I am sure they'll be fine."

I eyed him disbelievingly as I opened the door to greenhouse seven. "Yeah sure, Lily's just been acting the bitch recently as she's in a state of shock. Happens to us all, so it does!"

Remus gave me the eyes, the ones that usually meant 'Are you listening to yourself Olivia?' before retorting with his own sarcasm-laced comment. "Yes, it does. Mostly only to red heads, though, it seems."

I frowned childishly at him just as he broke out in silent laughter and took his seat in our usual position in the back. Pulling a face that my eight-year-old cousin would be extremely proud of, I sank down in my seat beside him just as Sprout began addressing the class about how we would be potting teenage Mandrakes today._ Oh goody!_ I thought ruefully as I searched my bag for my dragon hide gloves and thick sheep wool earmuffs. I didn't fancy dying today from the cries of a moaning spotty plant. I had enough moaning myself to do later which I very much wanted to be alive for. I glared one last time to the still-smiling boy beside me before pulling my gloves and earmuffs on and thanking the Lord that he was leaving tonight to go visit his mum in St. Mungo's like he did most months around this time. He may be a sweetheart and all, but he was a talkative one it seems. So I was more than happy that he wouldn't be here for a while, getting my hopes up any further about Severus. I didn't think I could handle another fall from grace this month.

* * *

"I'm not going. I can't be bothered. Go away!" I huffed as I rolled over to face the back of the couch, my legs outstretched down the length of the three red leather seats, daring someone to come and try to move them.

"You have an essay to be handed in tomorrow so you need to come. Whether you like it or not!"

I squeezed my eyes shut at Lexi's condescending tones, before silently agreeing that she was right. I did have an essay due tomorrow and if I ever wanted to graduate and become a healer I would need to hand it in.

"Fine, but I refuse to sit in that suffocating Library with Miss Culture Vulture looming over my shoulders. I say we go outside, sit next to the lake and laugh at the first years getting scared to death by the Giant Squid. Merlin knows I will need some entertainment to get me through writing twelve inches for Flitwick. I'm clueless when it comes to his class!" I rolled my legs off the couch before sitting myself up, my right hand stretching out to Lexi for her to help my lazy arse up into a standing position.

"Deal." She happily sighed before grabbing my hand in hers and tugging me onto my feet. "But, only if you help me with my Defence homework tomorrow, and indoors. Merlin knows_ I'm_ clueless when it comes to explaining theories in that class! Performing spells I'm good at, but when having to go into great detail over how they work? I'm as clueless as Peter!"

I smiled before nodding in agreement. I had no problem explaining the ins and outs of spells to anyone. I enjoyed it actually. I just couldn't perform them well whenever the need came to showcase my knowledge. I think it was fate that Lexi and I were such best friends. We complimented each other so well sometimes it was unreal.

"So, potions tutoring with Snape tonight still, yeah?" Lexi tentatively asked as she handed me my cloak, scarf and gloves before summoning her own to put on. I nodded cheerfully at her before grabbing my bag from under the table before us and heading out the portrait hole, a sudden spring in my step at the mere mention of Severus' name.

"Meeting him at eight down in one of the unused potions classrooms. No-one ever goes down there, so it's perfect for brewing potions after class."

"Just as long as you make it back unharmed and in one piece at ten o'clock, then I'm not fussed about what or where you go with him tonight. If he doesn't act like a prick again to you, then I'm in reluctant acceptance of him."

I grinned at her statement as though she had just told me that she wanted to be his new best friend. "Thanks, Lex. Means a lot to me. It would kill me if you still wanted to castrate him. Would take away all his manly goodness and I wouldn't want him any more."

She quirked an eyebrow at my feeble attempt at humour as we continued our way down the never-ending flight of moving stairs. "As if anything could put you off him! Even after he has acted like the biggest jerk to you ever, you still have the total hots for him. I can see it in the lines of drool you get from gazing at him during meals. It's disgusting!"

"Not as disgusting as walking in on you and Sirius swapping saliva every two minutes! Can you guys not even go an hour without sucking each others faces off? I was just telling Remus this morning how you two should be chaperoned in case one of you sucks the other dry!" I laughed back at her, my eyes twinkling with mirth to match her own amusement-filled ones. It was nice to be able to talk to her freely again. It had felt like years since we had both been able to tease each other like this over our crushes. It was nice. It was normal. It was _us_.

"Ha ha, extremely funny as usual." She rolled her eyes at me before tightening her ebony robes around herself as we reached the Entrance Hall doors and left the castle. The wind might have been mild, but the chill that whirled around us the moment we stepped outside was enough to make me want to retreat back inside to the warmth of the worn Gryffindor couch. I continued making my way towards the lake in stubbornness, realizing that to retreat now would only mean going back on my own suggestion of coming out here in the first place. So I wrapped my own cloak tighter around me in defiance as I folded my arms and stuck my heavily gloved hands under my forearms for added warmth.

"C'mon, let's sit over there under our tree." I chattered out as my feet crunched their way through the frosty ground and over towards the ever-familiar dreary-looking oak tree. It felt like ages since the last time we had all sat out under this tree even though in reality it was only a month ago. The weather had changed so much since then, just like everything else, it seems.

Lexi had her wand out and had transfigured her scarf into a thick woollen blanket before I could even blink. Most spells seemed to come easy to her whereas for me it took more than a few good tries for them to even remotely succeed. I personally thought I was just inadequate at them. Lexi, on the other hand, seemed to think it had something to do with me only being able to give my full attention to something for seconds at a time.

"There, now we won't be completely frozen to death." She smiled as she conjured a small flame to hover before us as we sat down on the cosy blanket. I had to admit, I was only slightly jealous of her abilities. Spells were so much more useful in the majority of situations than potions. _What use would potion brewing be in a duel? Exactly, pointless!_ "So, charms essay then? I think it shouldn't take us too long to do."

I smiled at her as I dug through the many random items in my bag before fishing out a few sheets of blank parchment, a quill and an ink pot. It was purple ink that turned black once dried. My mum bought me it during the summer, knowing that I would like it as I liked anything purple this year. Sadly, McGonagall didn't seem to share my sentiments whenever she saw me use it. Party pooper!

"How much have you written so far, Ollie?" I looked over at my smiling friend sitting elegantly next to me. She was holding a filled sheet of parchment in her hands. She looked over at my own blank sheets before shaking her head all-knowingly. "I assume that's a nothing, then? Merlin, you have a lot of work to do! Please tell me you at least know the spell and have practised that?"

I smiled weakly at her before shrugging my shoulders. "What can I say? I'm useless!"

She rolled her eyes at my sarcasm before grabbing her wand and showing me how to flick it properly while freezing an unsuspecting bug that was currently crawling along the frost-ridden grass before us.

"See, it's easy." She smiled proudly before re-animating the black beetle and letting it go on its way.

"I know it's easy. It's just hard for me, is all." I huffed out before following her instructions and causing only the bug's back legs to become frozen while the rest of it continued moving, squirming along and trying desperately to move its frozen rear legs. "See? Merlin, first years can even do this spell! I assume it is a sign of how I'm going to fail my charm N.E.W.T.'s, considering this was only supposed to be revision."

"Stop being so dramatic, Olivia. You always pass your charm tests with at least an 'acceptable'. So stop worrying."

I nodded at Lexi's words before crossing my arms across my chest and leaning back against the tree behind me. My thoughts drifted off as talking about our exams reminded me of something else looming over us this year. "You think You-Know-Who is still going to be causing havoc when we leave school? I mean, if I can't even do a simple Freezing Charm what use am I gonna be in a real life situation when I need to act fast?"

The blonde next to me stopped scribbling away on her parchment as her honey-coloured eyes looked at me with complete understanding. It seems she had been thinking of something similar that moment also. "I don't know what's going to be out there when we leave Hogwarts, Olivia. But I know for certain that whatever your grades in class, nothing will happen to you." Her eyes smiled with mirth for a moment as she continued, "If you can't remember a spell, you always have that tongue of yours to fall back on. I'm sure that alone will be enough to scare anyone off. Even You-Know-Who!"

I rolled my eyes at her comforting comment. "True. But I will also have beside me as backup the fearsome Lexi Kingsley who has a serious talent in using Shield charms, so I know I will be fine."

Lexi smirked next to me before casting a shield around us and our little fire to protect us further from the cold. "That she does. Nothing can get through them."

I laughed lightly from her comments before becoming distracted with the small sprinkle of other students outside, walking near the lake. Most of them were fourth year couples strolling hand-in-hand with each other through the grounds with not a care in the world. I knew that would all change the moment they began fifth year. Lots of couples seemed to break up around that time due to the amount of stress and time studying for O.W.L.'s added to your life. I smiled ruefully at the odd first or second year I could spot near us trying to peer into the Great Lake. They were obviously trying to test out the rumours about the Giant Squid to see if they were true or not. I was sure the moment that they got soaked down to their bones by it splashing them with ice-cold water that they would never be doubting any rumours that flew about Hogwarts ever again.

"How's you and Sirius? You two seem to be getting on quite well again."

Once again, my words caused Lexi to stop writing and look up at me. Only this time her face was beaming brightly at me as she practically radiated joy off every pore in her body. "He's an even better kisser than what I imagined. Does this thing with his-"

"With his tongue, I know. It's horrid and slevery and I think you need your head checked if you like it!"

She scowled at me for cutting her off before continuing her love-struck description of her lover boy Sirius. "Well, I like it and I think he is an amazing kisser. He's near perfect, actually. He might not be the most attentive boyfriend, what with him running off with his other woman James and causing havoc all the time, but he more than makes up for it when I do see him."

I grimaced at her loved-up nonsense. "Eww, please, don't tell me any more. I don't want to know!"

"No, no, nothing like that, you filthy slut!" She laughed as her cheeks tinged the slightest of pink. "I just meant that he isn't so tough and guarded when it's just me and him. He manages to make the most unusual of things romantic, like the Astronomy Tower, for example. He took me there last night and was showing me the stars. Was much more interesting than when Professor Horlicks taught us them, that was for certain. Did you know Sirius was named after a star?"

I nodded at her ramblings before rolling my eyes at her nonsense._ Was that really how I sounded when I spoke about Severus? Dear Lord, surely I don't sound that deranged!_ I looked over at Lexi once more to see her looking longingly out across the lake. Her eyes were glossed over as she smiled out over the stagnant waters surface.

"You think Dumbledore will let us go ice skating again this year if the lake freezes over?" I asked her. I was only mildly interested as I wasn't exactly the best skater in the world. Give me a sledge to go down any day, but anything with less support and I would be on my arse within moments.

"I hope so! It was so much fun last year, what with you and Lily showing us all what skating was and then you falling over too many times to count. You have the funniest of falls ever Olivia. Only you could fall into several awkward and knicker-flashing moments, one right after another!"

I shot her a look as she continued to giggle gently at my expense. I knew she meant no harm, but sometimes I didn't like to be reminded of my constant awkwardness. It was just too embarrassing, recalling some of the crazy things I had done in the past. I felt like I was jinxed by bad luck some days. I probably should keep a cauldron full of Felix Felicis brewing at all times just to help me get by unscathed most days. I didn't want to chance the side effects of long-term usage though. The last thing I needed was to be turning into a female full-of-it Sirius Black!

"I'm only joking, Ollie! You know you don't flash your panties every time you fall, just most of the time."

"Very amusing," I countered, my face stony, before I rolled my eyes and smiled at my loony best mate. These moments were rare between us the past few months. It felt as though my Severus obsession had drifted us apart slightly and I was almost starting to think that him not liking me the way I liked him was a good thing. Almost, that is.

Lexi absent-mindedly began tugging at the frosty grass beneath us, pulling the the short blades from the icy ground sharply before tossing them into the conjured flame still hovering before us. Her books were now abandoned completely as she focused her full attention on the flickering little flame, her brow furrowed and confused as though something was hanging heavily on her mind.

"Do you think the boys have been acting strange at all?" Her sudden route of conversation took me by surprise and I was sure my face showed it. She pulled her gaze from the fire and onto me as she smiled a little and shook her head a few times. "Random, I know, but I swear they are up to something. Have you not noticed how shifty they become sometimes?"

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. "Are they not always shifty?"

"Well, yes. But this is different... I think they sneak off somewhere every month and do something...something dodgy..."

I eyed her curious expression with one of my one. _What the hell was she going on about? They were always sneaking off doing dodgy things!_

Her blank gaze fell onto the flame once more before she continued. "Sirius cancelled on our date tomorrow night, almost the exact same time last month when I found him sneaking out Gryffindor Tower with James and Peter. Clearly they do something important each month around the same time or else he wouldn't of bailed on me. He knows how uptight I am about that sort of thing."

I smiled at my friend's tight lipped face as I recalled just how anxious she was about people cancelling plans on her. It had caused the majority of our arguments, actually, what with me being so flighty all the time.

"Maybe they have a Marauder's orgy every month and we're not invited!" I giggled aloud, causing Lexi to draw me a dirty look for not taking her seriously. Suddenly a thought hit me then which made me stop laughing and frown slightly. "You only said James, Sirius and Peter. Where was Remus? I mean, I know he doesn't like breaking rules and what-not, with him being Prefect and all, but he is a Marauder for a reason. Trouble appeals to him just as much as the rest of them, so why wasn't he there? He must have been there, too, as I don't think he visited his mum last month. Remember Sirius saying something about him not wanting to miss a test."

I found myself totally enticed by this line of conversation now that the seed of curiosity had been planted in my head. I felt the old cogs turning as I tried to reason out what exactly they could be up to that didn't include Remus.

"Exactly what I asked Sirius the day after when I saw him!" Lexi exclaimed, her hands fanned out in front of her excitedly as she talked animatedly about the situation. "He, however, brushed my questions off by smugly stating that they were just sneaking out to set a prank on Filch and that Remus wasn't with them as he wasn't feeling well. I find it extremely hard to swallow, though. Its all just way too suspicious sounding. Remus can't be ill or away at St. Mungo's with his mum every time I have seen them sneak out. It's just not plausible! Why would they do something every month without him?"

I nodded in agreement.

"You don't think they are secretly mean to Remus or anything, do you? I mean, he is a bit of a stick in the mud at times over some of their more outrageous ideas, and this morning, for example, they all just left him to sleep in and miss his first two classes! That isn't really what you would expect from best friends, is it?"

"Hmm... I doubt it, but something is definitely up with them anyway, and they don't want Remus knowing, that's for sure. I remember I noticed them all acting suspiciously last year also without Remus with them, so clearly since they are all best mates its probably something to do with protecting him rather than being mean to him. It has to be. Maybe they just do something every month while he's away to take their minds off missing him? It's something related to Remus for definite though."

Sighing, I nodded to no-one in particular as my mind began filling with silly ideas as to what they could be up to. _Maybe they just don't tell Remus about some of their more dangerous pranks, as they know how he gets and don't want him to lose his Prefect status? Or, maybe they are excluding him on some 'boys night out' for some reason or another?_ I shook my head as I resigned to the knowledge that they would never exclude Remus out of anything. They were all too close to each other to be petty over something silly like that, so it most definitely had to do with him being Prefect. It just had to. So with my curiosity semi-convinced that was the truth, I put the matter to the back of my mind and picked up my textbook, looking for a distraction.

"So, show me how you did that freezing charm again before we both freeze out here ourselves."

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

As usual, I found myself pacing the corridor outside the unused Potions classroom after our arranged time. It seemed no matter what time we agreed to meet at, Olivia would always seem to find a way of being late no matter what. Usually, I would find myself cursing her out under my breath at this point and plotting to leave, but today my mind was occupied with other thoughts.

You see, ever since I had decided to distance myself from Olivia last week, I had decided to focus my attentions on something else, anything else, to distract me from re-thinking my idea through and pulling the plug on it entirely. As absurd as it sounds, I felt my usual curiosity over the four idiots she called _friends_ re-ignite itself to a fully wonderful and fascinating distraction. It allowed my mind to still linger on things it shouldn't, like the sweetness of Olivia's breath on my neck in class every time she leaned in to whisper the next step of a potion to me, all-the-while still finding enough distraction through the ever-suspicious Black and co. to keep my thoughts about her from going any further than they should. Ratting out people as troublesome as them was quite a full-time and thought-provoking job.

Just now, I felt my mind blissfully occupied with the mysterious absence of Lupin from the Gryffindor table during dinner and not of the whereabouts of another equally mysterious Gryffindor at all. I strided back and forth fully absorbed in wondering of how to find out exactly what they were up to and what all the suspicious whispering between the three remaining idiots at the table was all about. It was plainly obvious that they had sent the Prefect off to do something while they plotted the rest of their rule breaking plan out in full. I had already checked out their silly excuse of his mother being unwell. There was no-one in any of the wards in St. Mungo's whose name ever bared a resemblance to that of Lupin. It reminded me of just why I hated them so much in the first place; their constant need to act superior to the rules everyone else had to follow. It was absurd how many times they had managed to get away with things without any consequences at all. If any Slytherin had done even half of the things they had, they would have been expelled on the spot. It made me snarl even to think about it.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

I looked up from pacing to see a flustered red head running at me, the sight alone being more than enough to wipe all current thoughts of the Gryffindor idiots from my mind as I focused solely on her. My deep gaze drank in every inch of her delicious frame as it bounced its way over to greet me. I found my resolve slowly weakening the moment I noticed she was dressed casually in snug denim bell bottoms and a tight orange-striped polo shirt which had a very strategically placed v-neck.

I suddenly became aware of her now-smirking face, causing me to cough to try to distract her from my outlandish staring. "You're late."

"I know. Sorry." She breathed heavily as her hands gripped at her sides as though she had run here at a speed she wasn't used to. I found myself smirking slightly as I caught the sight of sweat gliding teasingly down her milky skin before vanishing under her suggestive 'mountain range' which her top seemed to do nothing but enhance. Her faced paled suddenly as she stood straight as a board before me, a quizzical and flustered expression gracing her features as she peered over at me. "Why are you staring at me like that? I haven't got food down me again do I? Merlin, I have, haven't I!"

I raised an eyebrow as she began flapping oddly before me, her hands rubbing up and down her body as though she was trying to wipe some sort of invisible force from her frame. Before the smile that was currently trying to break across my lips could fully form, I cleared my throat loudly, causing her to stop her absurd randomness and to stare at me with bright eyes.

"If you wouldn't mind, stop acting foolish and head into the classroom so we can start something tonight before our tutoring session is over before it has even begun." I held my hands out towards the door standing between us. She shyly nodded at and made her way through rather quickly. Before following after her and closing the door firmly behind me, I congratulated myself internally at not falling victim to my emotions so soon after we met up.

"So, what is it we will be working on tonight, then? Suppose we should probably work on something that I missed last week to keep McGonagall happy, unless you have any other exciting ideas you would like to share?"

Her smile lingered with me even after she had turned back to unpacking her things from her bag. I moved over to the empty space next to her before doing the same with my own satchel.

"I thought we could look over the new Wolfsbane Potion tonight. Slughorn has been speaking about it all week. Seems he is rather _friendly_ with the potioneer who invented it: Damocles."

She nodded her head happily before readying her quill and some parchments for writing. I watched in interest as she placed the delicate feathered tip between her lips, her tongue lightly licking the end of it as though she was deliberately teasing me somehow with this simple show of wetting her quill for writing. I swallowed hard before turning away and busying myself with something less enticing. Agreeing to tutor her again after all that had transpired between us was clearly one of the worse ideas I had ever agreed to. I had totally misjudged how large of a hold she had over me. It was ridiculous!

"Can I see your notes over it, then? I already know a lot about it, mind, as my Dad's quite good friends with the guy anyway. That, and he is obsessed with Potions. If I need to hear him go on about the effects of the lunar movements on potions one more time I'm going to pull my hair out!" She laughed heartedly as she shook her head.

I looked at her curiously for a moment before deciding to finally voice my own thoughts aloud. "Your father brews Potions? I thought he worked for the Ministry?"

She paused in her actions to turn and face me full on, giving me her complete attention. One of her eyebrows was raised as though she was almost suspicious of my line of questioning. I was just surprised by her revelation. I was sure her father had been some Muggle-lover who had a silly job at the Ministry Of Magic, nothing of importance. But by the way she was speaking about him and the contacts he held, I felt like I had judged him all wrong so far and that he was possibly someone I should take note of after all.

"Oh, he does. He works in the Muggle Liaison Department and he has a great respect for all things Muggle, my mother included." She beamed proudly, her hands flying through the air with animation as though she had great joy talking about her family and their roots. I myself couldn't say I could relate to her on that aspect. I would rather forget my family even existed most of the time. Her eyes shined with great excitement as she continued in her usual upbeat and contagious voice. "But he loves tampering with Potions in his free time. Whenever he gets some these days, that is. He is actually the reason I know so much about Potion making. He would always have old Starky round when I was younger. The stuff she would come out with was unreal. I swear, she had such a mouth on her for an old lady. Also, the stories she could tell you about old Dumbledore were just shocking! Who knew he liked to sing opera as a teenager? I certainly didn't. anyway."

My brows furrowed even deeper than before. "Starky? Hesper Starky? Your father was friends with _the_ Hesper Starky?"

I suddenly felt a small wave of adoration form inside me for Olivia's father. He might be soft when it came to Muggles, but if such Potioneer geniuses as Damocles and Starky considered him worthy enough to be around then surely he must have some clue as to what he was doing. There was no question now as to why Olivia seemed so easy-going when it came to Potion brewing. Her father and his famous friends had probably been teaching her since she was little. I felt a small pang of envy towards her then as I was reminded of my own childhood, and just how polar opposite it had been from her own. The only thing my father had gone out his way to teach me was how to hate someone with a vengeance. I ground my teeth in anger as I recalled just how he had taught me that fact.

"Yeah, old Hesper was over at my house all the time. She was a sweetheart, really, but she would just come out with such the- Are you okay, Severus? You look upset about something?"

A small white hand reached over to my shoulder as chewed purple-coloured fingernails dug into my arm in a comforting manner. She looked quite hesitant over her actions as though she had regretted ever making them. I ignored the comfort her small gesture made me feel as I shook her off my arm and moved away from her slightly, my face an unreadable book as I busied myself with the various Potions notes on the desk before us. It wouldn't help anyone for her to know about my life. It would just do nothing but procure her sympathy, something I never wanted of anyone. Especially her.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I shouldn't have rambled on like that as you are just here to tutor me on what I missed in Potions, not to listen to me rambling on about my boring life. Why would you want to hear about that?"

Her laugh was strained somehow as though she didn't fully know how to react in our current situation. I myself was just as unsure as to what to do either. There seemed to be a tension in the air every time we where together the last week or so. It was almost as though it had become second nature in the past few months for us to fall into the routine of her rambling on about something in her private life, something emotional, while I would just hover around her and pretend I wasn't interested in the slightest about what she had to say, all the while asking her simple but intruding little questions for her to open up some more to me. This awkwardness that was now between us was because that easy flowing conversation didn't exist any more. I had ruined that the moment I had shunned her for a week. I sighed deeply before speaking as though nothing had shifted between us at all.

"The Wolfsbane Potion is extremely hard to make and takes several months to prepare. It hasn't been fully tested out yet and no-one else has attempted to brew it but Damocles himself, so although it is tempting to brew, we will only be running through the notes that I have made in class and discussing the benefits and _complications_ this potion might cause if brewed globally."

"Complications? Why would it cause any complications?" Her tone was sharp almost as it rang out in the stone-walled room. I didn't need to be able to see what she was thinking to know that she knew I didn't approve of Werewolves, or of the help this potion could give them if proven successful. _Why should society accept things so downtrodden and aggressive as them into the world? _They were mangy dogs that did nothing more than prey on wizards and witches, tainting them with their disgusting disease and forcing them to become like them: dirt. They were almost as bad as the Muggles.

I chose not to express my true feelings, however, knowing full well that she held very different feelings on the matter entirely. "As ground-breaking as the discovery is, I cannot see much other benefit to it other than protecting innocent lives from the wolves themselves. It doesn't improve their life quality at all or help cure the disease."

Her frame uncurled slightly as she reached for my notes and began reading through them at a very inhuman pace. "I still think it's a great advancement in helping them, though. I mean, yes, it protects others from getting hurt by them and things, but I'm more than sure that isn't their main objective in life anyway; hurting people, that is. I mean, have you never seen an old black and white horror movie? All the creatures in them want is someone to love and accept them for what they are. They never mean to hurt a fly and are just misjudged and misunderstood entirely. It's very sad, actually, even if wolves in general do give me the creepies. I mean, why do they have to be so angry looking all the time? It's scary as hell!"

"Hmm, indeed," I mumbled out before mentally noting down just how contradictory Olivia's sentence was. It was strange how she was arguing that a race of creatures, creatures that she found utterly terrifying herself, should be accepted into the world by everyone else. Was everything with this girl complicated? Then again, if she wasn't so complex and confusing in nature, I wouldn't have had the fascination I had with her, now would I?

"Hesper seems to think the lunar cycle changes the outcomes of certain potions when brewed at different times. Do you think this potion would be more or less effective if it was brewed earlier or later than specified? I always did find her theories quite fascinating, even if she has made my dad obsessed with her ideas now. He vowed to continue her work after she died. Think it hit hard as he looked up to her as a mother at times."

I placed a finger to my taut lips in thought as I sat down defeated. _How had I not thought of this idea before? Was it that difficult for me to even think of it before the Gryffindor beside me?_ I was just as intrigued by this idea as she was now. "I'm not a hundred percent sure. It is possible, but it would need to be tested out to be proven right or wrong. And not only do we not have all the ingredients here to test our theory, but we have no werewolf available to try it out on either." I smirked at the last bit of my statement. _As though a werewolf would be anywhere near the grounds of Hogwarts. Dumbledore was many things, but he wasn't stupid enough to let creatures like that roam the Forbidden Forest unchecked._

Olivia's sweet laughter erupted next to me. "I don't know about that, mind. You should see Lily every third week of the month. She's a right snarly wolf around then so we might actually be in luck! Will need to start comparing her mood-swings to my lunar calender to see if there's any truth in the matter. Fingers crossed for our experiments, she is, eh?"

"Let's hope she is snarling tomorrow night, then, shall we?" I couldn't help but let the light-hearted sarcastic comment fall from my lips. It was just too easy to be comfortable around Olivia with her smiling the way she was. I always found myself saying things that I usually wouldn't in front of others the moment one of her alluring, mischievous grins caught my gaze. They were very hard to ignore. Just like her, in general.

"Is tomorrow night a full moon, then? Didn't even notice! Will keep an eye on her, then, just in case she starts resembling Lon Chaney, Jr. by tomorrow night and begins growing fur and a snout."

_Lon Chaney Jr?_ Some Muggle reference, I assumed, by the smile Olivia was now wearing at my confusion. I smiled back as I confidently began listing off the numerous plot holes in her make-believe plan.

"First off, a werewolf would resemble a real wolf almost to an extent that you would find it difficult to distinguish both apart. Therefore, your black-and-white-movie-era images are pointless. Secondly, they would show signs of illness before and after the full moon and would need to go into hiding of some sort for a few days, making your humourless joke that Lily could be a wolf seriously doubtful, considering she hasn't missed a day of school in her entire life. And thirdly, the prospect of a student being a Werewolf is almost laughable. Dumbledore would never allow something that dangerous into the school. Even he isn't that stupid."

Her smile turned into a large smirk as she leaned over towards me and began whispering to me in an almost seductive tone. Something which was making me feel incredibly hot and flustered in the rather cold dungeon classroom. "You, Severus Snape, need to learn how to appreciate a joke better." Her pointer finger poked into my chest gently before her smirk deepened even more and her face became even closer to my own. Sweet, hot, delicious breath lingered on my neck as she spoke slowly and calmly to me, almost as though she was enjoying our current position almost as much as I. My legs crossed involuntarily over each other in order to attempt to hide my growing excitement from her. "If I ever find a Werewolf, though, I shall make sure I send them to you, considering you seem to be the all-knowing expert on them."

She leaned away from me then, offering me one last mind-numbing seductive smile and began copying down my notes as though nothing had transpired between us in the slightest. I followed her lead and continued looking over my own notes again, all the while smirking to myself at how wrong this situation was entirely. As much as I wanted to distance myself from her, I found the idea of ignoring my obscure sense of care towards her was much less valuable than one taste of those plush, red lips upon my own. If this was the way she was making me feel by just being close to me, Merlin only knows what sort of state she would have me in if I ever went against my better judgement and told her my feelings for her. Assuming she would feel the same way as I do.

I chanced a quick glance at her small frame writing furiously away next to me and all hope and fun was gone as reality fell down on me harshly once again.

No, I had to restrain my teenage hormones and not get too close. I would ignore her fully tomorrow and concentrate all my efforts on my revenge on Black and Potter by foiling whatever stupid deed they had been planning tonight. Yes, I had to concentrate fully on them, and not the lustful and playful Lion beside me instead, as that was leading to nothing but wet dreams.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two: Little Red Riding Hood

"What's up with your face? You look like you're carrying sleeping bags under your eyes."

"Wolves, Lexi. One word: wolves," I breathed out to my bewildered friend before dropping my head onto the breakfast table before us and closing my eyes. "I spent the whole of last night having nightmares about wolves. I blame Lily."

"Lily?" Lexi laughed out as her eyes flickered to a solitary figure a good ten or so people down from us, "What's Lily got to do with you being crazy?"

Without lifting my head from the table, I turned to face her and drew her the evils. "It's because she's a werewolf and made me have bad dreams about her and her kind."

Lexi stared open-eyed at my blank face for a moment before bursting with laughter. "Werewolf! That has got to be the stupidest thing you have ever said in your life, Ollie! As if Lily could possibly be a werewolf!"

I sighed in frustration at having to explain myself to her in my current zombie-like state. "Duh! It's not like I actually think that. I'm not that stupid." Lexi caught my gaze and gave me a 'oh, really?' look before I decided to continue. "I was joking about it with Severus last night and obviously my messed up head had to just continue it on in my dreams. She was so scary in it, though. She even ate James, Lexi. JAMES! Oh, and Peter, also."

"Well, James, yeah. I can see that. But Peter? Nah. He's like Lily's little child. She would never hurt him."

I ignored Lexi's giggles as her sentence struck me odd. "Why would she want to hurt James, though? Oh, Merlin, please say that he has come to his senses and binned her, will you? I could do with seeing a good James versus Lily slagging match today."

"James? As if! You know he would give up Quidditch and his right arm to be with her! They've just been arguing a bit like they used to, is all. If you weren't off talking about werewolves with Greasy Chops over there" -she flicked her thumb behind her to indicate the Slytherin table- "then you would've seen rabid Lily in action last night. Was explosive. Apparently she was getting at him for ditching her tonight, and he was having none of it. He actually stood up to her and told her no for once. Was a proud moment."

"Damn. I miss all the fun, so I do," I mumbled out through a yawn. I was shattered this morning after catching little to no sleep last night. Who knew nightmares could be so realistic? That, and the knowledge that the source of my unconscious fear was only a bed away from me didn't help, either. I kept thinking she was going to rip through my bed curtains in an animalistic rage during the night. Then again, Lily usually was in one of those moods with me so it wouldn't have been much different than any other night.

"So, how come you two were calling Lily a hairy beast, then? I thought Snape would never say a bad thing about her ever again after what happened fifth year. Jokey nonsense or not."

I smiled longingly as I recalled all of last night in vivid detail. "We were talking about Damocles' Wolfsbane Potion and how cool it would be to attempt to brew it and try it out. Sadly, Severus pointed out that there weren't any werewolves about to try it on and I commented that Lily could be one because of her monthly mood-swings."

Lexi eyed me curiously before smirking. "In that case then, you should have nominated yourself, as you are like an untamed bear during your monthlies!"

"Ha ha," I mocked as I crossed my arms over my chest and gazed into the cup of coffee before me. I never was one for hot drinks, really, but with the way I was feeling this morning I thought I better try something filled with caffeine before I ended up falling asleep in Transfiguration this afternoon.

"What you lovely ladies gossiping about, then? Sexy me, I hope."

I didn't even bother looking behind me to see who had spoken, knowing instantly who it was just by the cocky, sarcastic tone of his voice. I couldn't stop the roll of my eyes, however, which thankfully seemed to go unnoticed by him. Lexi's body pushed up against mine as he squeezed into the spot next to her and instantly began overloading his plate with bacon and eggs.

"Olivia was just telling me about how she suspects that there's a werewolf in the school." Lexi smirked as she faced me, her eyes alight with friendly mockery as I awaited the bark-like laugh to escape Sirius's mouth while he began to poke fun at my stupidity along with her.

Sharp choking noises thundered over Lexi's low giggles, however, causing us both to look over at Sirius in alarm. His face was ashen white as he coughed and spluttered next to us, his fists banging on the table before him as he full-on choked on a piece of bacon. Within moments however, Lexi had waved her wand and rescued him from a near death experience, her hands rubbing lovingly down his back. We both waited patiently for him to catch his breath, our expressions both curious and amused over his little display.

"Wha-what?" he just about managed to cough out, his hands rubbing his throat gently as he coughed a few more times to find his voice. "What did you say?"

"Geez, who knew the prospect of werewolves was so frightening to you!" I interrupted before Lexi could even say a word back. His dark gaze immediately fell onto my green one, almost causing me to freeze on the spot. It was that alarming-looking.

"You okay, Sirius? You don't look too well?" Lexi cooed next to me as she placed a hand over his furrowed forehead.

_What the hell is wrong with him?_

"Yeah, you okay?" I asked also, my face now loosing its mirth and looking more and more confused by the second. "I promise I won't joke about Lily being an animal every month as long as you promise to stop scaring me. I've never seen you look so serious before! It's unnerving..."

"Lily?" he shot out faster than I thought was humanly possible. His brows became more relaxed however, as did the rest of his tensed body.

"Uhm, yeah? Who did you think we were talking about? Mulciber?" I laughed while chancing a glimpse over at the Slytherin table to see the burly boy in question sitting next to Avery and still slightly covered in small boils. "He does have the face for it, though, I have to say."

Loud raucous laughter echoed around us then like some sort of bomb.

"You accused her of being a wolf? Why, in Merlin's name, would you do that!" Sirius laughed out causing a few people to look our way before shrugging their shoulders at us and continuing their own less-than-exciting conversations.

I tapped my left pointer finger against my lip as I screwed up my face as though in deep thought. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe cause she acts like a wild boar at times? Or has the animalistic temper for it?"

He shook his head at my nonsense before draping a casual arm around Lexi's shoulders, which set her face alight. "Trust me on this. Lily ain't a Werewolf. She may be many things, but definitely ain't that. I would know."

"Oh, you would know, would you?" I quirked an eyebrow at him to emphasis my suspicion. "Since when were you 'the man who knows everything', eh? Who died and made you king?"

He smiled one of his women-swooning grins at me as he leaned casually past Lexi's silently laughing frame. "Olivia, you know that I know everything that's ever worth knowing in this school whether you like to admit it or not." My eye roll of 'whatever' only made him smile even wider. "Green really isn't a good colour on you, by the way. Jealousy doesn't suit someone with your complexion. Washes you out."

Lexi snorted quite loudly at his comments, all the while maintaining an air of feminineness that only she could do while making sounds reminiscent of pigs. "Yeah, red and green really shouldn't be seen with each other, but we _are_ talking about Olivia here."

My arms crossed over my chest at catching the look in her eyes, the look that was clearly only meant for me and that said 'you shouldn't like Slytherins, Olivia'. I mustered up enough petulance, though, to stumble out a smart retort of my own. "Well, we can't all be ruby darlings now can we? Red isn't everyone's colour, it seems, and people will just have to accept that. Besides, I think green really brings out my best. You know I love to rub against the norm."

Sirius gazed bewildered between the two of us for a moment before speaking comically once again. "Why do I get the feeling we aren't talking about clothes here?" His laugh was low and curious sounding. He hated not knowing what was going on. He was the biggest brown-noser I had ever known. Well, apart from myself, that is.

"I'm afraid that if we are talking about clothes, then I am not dressed for the occasion, so please try not to critique me too much."

I turned to the side of me to see a very tired and worn-out Remus Lupin plopping down in the empty seat to the left of me. He looked as grim as I felt, even if his lips still held his ever-charming smile that they always did. I don't think I had ever not seen Remus smile. Not even that Valentine's when I had set him on fire.

Sirius's face was suddenly much more serious-looking than before as he gazed intently over Lexi and I and then straight at his best friend. If I hadn't known better, I would've sworn that he was giving Remus the 'stop talking now' face that Lexi had shot to me on more than a regular basis.

"Nah, mate. We were just about to talk about Defence cla -"

"We were actually talking about werewolves, before Sirius over there starting being a smart arse as usual." I laughed lightly, somehow managing to miss Sirius face-palming himself and shaking his head in defeat. I turned sharply around to face Remus only to see him gripping the long mahogany table before us with the strength of The Hulk. I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment before finally catching on to what was happening. "Oh, Merlin, I'm soo sorry, Remus! I totally forgot you don't like werewolves! Better not tell you about the nightmare I had last night, then, as it was totally terrifying. James got eaten in it and so did Peter, and I was Little Red Riding Hood or something. And then you, Remus, scared the hell out of me with your razor sharp -"

Screeching cut me off as Remus stood abruptly from the table, his face ashen and horror-struck. "I'm actually not feeling too well today. Think I will go see Madam Hurley." The sound of rushed footsteps was all that remained of him as he all but ran out of breakfast.

Sirius growled to the right of me before standing up to leave also. "Sometimes you really don't know when to shut up, Olivia." And then he, too, marched from the Great Hall without even saying so much as a goodbye to anyone.

I huffed in frustration before shaking my head at the absurdness of the boys we hung out with. "God, I was only gonna say that he scared the hell out of me when he chased after wolf-Lily with his razor-sharp axe. I swear, boys are so touchy sometimes."

Lexi's baffled form nodded next to me. "Agreed!"

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

Red, luscious lips kissed along my jawbone passionately as small, silken hands tugged playfully at my hair. She sat on my lap, her legs wrapped around either side of my waist as she straddled me while I sat helpless on the library chair beneath her. Her hair was tamer than usual, less Potter-like than it usually was, which made the gesture of reaching up to run my calloused hands through it much more pleasurable than I had previously imagined.

A small moan escaped her lips as she pressed harder against me, her milky thighs gripping tighter onto my sides.

"Severus..."

It was barely even a whisper, but I felt myself growl at the sound of her voice saying my name. I could never even have imagined the effect she could have on me until I had her breathing my name like that. I would remember those tones forever.

My hands moved hastily down her glossy locks to her neck, across her hidden collarbone and down her chest. She shuddered before me as my long, clumsy fingers stumbled with the many buttons on her school shirt. The sight of her atop me in the Library with nothing but her school uniform on seemed to only rush me on. Arouse me even more than I thought was possible.

Her hands followed my lead and made their way onto my own chest, her slightly damp fingers descended from my less-than-sanitary hair, tugging for entry at my own school shirt. I growled deep in my throat the moment her hands made contact with my bare chest. Who knew such small, delicate hands could cause such pleasure?

We explored each other fervently as though we might never get the chance to do so again. I ran my hands over her curving stomach and aubergine lace bra like a blind man reading Braille. I was determined to bask in this moment for as long as I could. Treat it with the due care it deserved. Her hands did similar movements. Her barely-there-nails scratched down my thin chest with ease before trailing back up their path again with great delicacy and precision. I admired how she hadn't shied away from my less-than-perfect body with disgust. It did nothing but spur on my movements even more.

I pulled her tighter to me as my hands reached around her back seeking to remove the purple fabric that was rubbing between us. She arched into me as my fingers danced across the dimples on her back and moved upwards seeking her bra clasp. Once again, her hands had found their way to my hair and had woven their way through the strands with great ease as she pushed her chest under my chin and began panting slightly with excitement. My own breath hitched as I began struggling to open her bra.

Her green magnetic orbs met mine for a moment and I was almost in awe with the passion that burned in them. They were alive with fire, a fire that was burning just for me. I smirked to myself proudly as I basked momentarily in the moment, not sure if she would ever look at me that way again. My lips suddenly found hers and danced for domination with her tongue.

"Mr. Snape...Mr. Snape...what are you doing?"

The click of her bra sounded loudly in the empty, darkened Library as did the creek of the wooden chair protesting underneath us. I was too lost in the moment to care for her odd choice of name or her strange tone of voice. At this moment in time, she could call me whatever she wanted and I wouldn't care. My teenage groans soon drowned out any doubt as my hands slid across the smooth skin beneath her bra. How I had longed to feel those for weeks now beneath my hands, and my hands alone. Once again her hands followed my lead and headed for the waistband on my trousers. My heart rate doubled in pace as she slid one finger at a time under it teasingly. It was the the sweetest torture I could ever imagine.

"Mr. Snape! What are you doing?"

My head snapped sharply up from my position at the back of the empty Library to the source of the shrill voice calling on me. The book that I had been lazily holding as I daydreamed fell from my hands and clattered onto the floor with a loud bang followed quickly by the sound of thundering footsteps.

"Mr. Snape! Groaning like that in the Library is most indecent, not to even start with the damage that you will have done to my books with your drooling!" Madame Pince shrieked inches away from me before snatching the book off the floor with great haste and care. "Out with you now! Come on, out! I will not be tolerating behaviour like that in my Library. You should be ashamed of yourself, Severus. Not like you at all."

I quickly gathered up all my belongings, my cheeks burning with embarrassment at being caught in such an awkward situation by the Librarian. I kept my glance on the floor as I swept from the room, not making eye contact with anyone should anybody have overheard any names I might have moaned out in my daydream. I gripped my satchel tighter to me as the sound of Olivia moaning my name echoed throughout my head, making every hair on my body stand on edge. I had never thought of anyone quite like this before. Of nameless and faceless girls? Yes, I was a teenage male, after all. But never of someone so vividly and so accurately as I had just done in there. My shirt was literally sticking to me with perspiration from the bad combination of humiliation and lust. Lily was just a crush. Innocent and sweet were my thoughts of her. Not like Olivia. No. Desire burned just as brightly as friendship with her. I thought of her entirely differently than all other girls I had ever met.

"Oi! Snape!"

My brisk footsteps fell silent as I stopped rushing and turned to face the source of the voice calling on me. If it was anyone else who had just called on me there, I would have given them the cold shoulder and continued on my way without even so much as a glance backwards in their direction. I might have even gone as far as hexing them if they had even considered following after me and seeking my attention. No, I had to keep up my façade with him. He knew too much about my 'extra curricular' activities not to.

"What is it, Avery?"

He seemed to ignore my tone of annoyance as he continued his next sentence without even missing a beat.

"Mulciber wanted me to check on you. Wanted me to see if you were with _her_. You know how he feels about her after what happened in Defence class. She's practically top of his 'list' now with the other lowlifes from in here." He had made his way behind me as he spoke. I felt my fists clench at my sides in a pitiful attempt to control my emotions at his stirring words. He circled his way around me until we were face to face. His face was smirking gleefully at my own stoic one as though he knew exactly what was running through my mind. I had known Avery long enough, however, to know that he was a bluffer. He may have acted like he had brains, but in reality he was just as simple as Mulciber. Avery could just act at playing smart better than the over-grown Mulciber could.

I placed a large smirk upon my own face and felt it intensify as his own seemed to drop.

"If he has placed her, of all people, top of his list then I think it should be him you are more concerned about than me." I leaned into him before I spoke my next sentence, using my extra inch of height to tower over him and belittle him even further. "Do you think the Dark Lord would be satisfied to hear that Mulciber is letting petty little school disputes rule over his decisions? Do you think our Lord lets petty emotions such as jealousy rule him?" I stepped back for a second to judge his expression. It was a mixed one of fear and anger. Of course, I myself was being petty in letting my school crush rule over my decisions. But no-one had to know that. I was much smarter than either Avery or Mulciber gave me credit for. That was something that I was now very grateful for.

Avery straightened his tie and cracked his neck. He didn't like being shown up, so his reply was to be expected. "I think all the Dark Lord cares for is loyalty, and loyalty is what we shall give him. What we _all_ shall give him if we know what is best. Have fun in Defence class."

I felt my smirk slightly waver as I watched him storm off back the way he had come. I stood firm, however, and didn't take my guarded eyes off him until I was sure he was at least a good floor away from me. My fists dropped helplessly at my sides as his words sunk in. It was clear he was referring to the company I kept of late. I myself knew it wasn't an issue. I would be cutting all ties well before I graduated and there would be no more of it. Nothing. Nothing left but hot, sweaty teenage daydreams which I still couldn't get out of my head. Nothing but angry memories over teenage school enemies. I wouldn't let anything petty disrupt my path in life. I sighed once before straightening myself out and striding off through the second floor corridor, pushing all thoughts but this afternoon's Defence class from my head.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three: Unexpected Snooping Partner: Part One

It was all anyone could talk about the past few days. It was all that was on our minds since Friday when he still hadn't shown up to any classes. He never was one for not showing up to anything School related, so something was evidently wrong. We all knew it, but no-one was saying anything about it. It was like the elephant in the room that no-one – no-one but me that is – was looking to address.

"Where's Remus? Is he okay? Is he really sick or something? Or is–"

"You need to shut up," Sirius groaned as I paced in front of the Gryffindor fireplace. I had been this way since Saturday morning when Madam Hurley wouldn't let me into the Hospital Wing and Madam Pomfrey backed her up. I mean it must be serious if Pomfrey was being strict with people. She hardly ever was. She was supposed to be the nice one, so it was bad if she was acting like a total sourpuss like Hurley.

"Shut up? Shut up! Remus has been MIA. since Thursday at breakfast and you want me to shut up! You-you shut up!" He looked over the top of his latest Quidditch Weekly magazine to raise an eyebrow at my loud rant and unnerving pacing. "Fine," I sighed as I stopped my erratic behaviour and plopped down on the red leather couch next to him. "I will stop being so dramatic, but you have to tell me what is up with him. I feel so bad, as though it's my fault or something..."

I stared hard at my twiddling thumbs before feeling an arm slink over my slumped shoulders and pulling me into a rock hard chest. "Stop worrying about it. You didn't do anything wrong. Remus is just...sick is all. Just needs a few days off from school. He has...studyitus. Has bored himself into the Hospital Wing from studying all the time. The Ravenclaws get it all the time."

"Studyitus?" I breathed through a smile as I shrugged my shoulders into Sirius's chest. "You really think I would believe he has one of your made up diseases? Merlin, you must really be hiding something from me if you are resorting to that! That was just poor, even for your standards!"

"Shush." He smiled down at me before pushing me off him with all the strength of an eleven year old girl. "You know that if I was hiding anything, I wouldn't tell you even if my life depended on it. You can't keep a secret, Pet. Besides, there is nothing to hide, apart from the fact that Remus has studied himself into the hospital wing. See? _Studyitus_. It literally kills to study so much for exams. Teachers should be sued. They are, quite frankly, murdering us with homework!"

"True." I shrugged to myself before drawing my shoeless feet up under my bum so I was sitting Indian style on the couch. "But then again, you have never been one to not drop hints either, so shoot. Tell me what is going on. Hint at it like you always love to do. You know you love being a tease and lording things over people. It's the _Slytherin_ in you, I swear!"

"Ugh!" Sirius barked out, thoroughly appalled by my comparison of him to the 'evil side'. "Say something as horrid as that again and you might just find yourself the star in my next prank!"

"Ha, ha," I dryly stated before leaning back into the couch, sighing heavily and closing my eyes. "I'm just worried, is all. Remus never misses a class, ill or not, and half the school is talking about where he has gone. And then Sev – Snape – keeps asking me what is up, and then I think about what I said to him and I feel like it is–"

"Snape? Tell Snape to keep his large, blackhead-filled nose to himself! It has nothing to do with him in the slightest. And if he knows best, then he will remember that and keep out of our business."

"Woah!" I jumped up on my feet as though lightening had struck my backside. "Calm down, will you! I was just saying how worried people have been, is all. Jeez! Are people not allowed to be worried about their friends any more now?"

"Worried? You think Snape is worried?" Sirius scoffed loudly. It was his turn to pace the floor before the fireplace – only he had a much harder look on his face than what I had done when I was the one pacing. "And don't even make me laugh with the word 'friends'. When has Remus even been his _friend_?" He growled in anger before picking up his pacing speed to that of an angry stomp. "See, this is why you shouldn't be near him. He will just manipulate you into believing what he wants. You are so naive at times, Ollie. You can't see how big of an ass he is because you can only see the good in people. Snivellus has no good in him. He is a no-good Slytherin puss bag!"

I huffed childishly as I crossed my arms over my chest in an indignant fashion. "Well, he sounded concerned to me. I know he isn't exactly Remus's number one fan, but he seemed to genuinely take interest in how he was after I told him how worried I was. I mean, he is _my_ _friend,_ you know. Or am I not allowed to have any friends, bar _you,_ any more? Merlin! Excuse me for mentioning to someone how worried I was since I hadn't seen Remus for days after I mentioned the whole Werewolf thing to–"

"You did what**!**" Sirius roared down at me. The madness in his eyes caused me to shy away from him and fall back down into a sitting position on the sofa once more. I was overly glad that today was a Sunday. Most people were out in Hogsmeade shopping or outside enjoying the cold November sunshine, or else there would have been an audience to this whole débâcle. I didn't like it when Sirius was in one of his 'moods', but I liked them even less when people were around to witness them. Me included.

"I-I told him a-about how Remus had run off after-after I mentioned werewolves to him at breakfast that day. I don't see how that's such-such a big problem! It's not like he is gonna use it against him. Use a werewolf to torture Remus or something, is it? "I felt like a total idiot stuttering out incoherent sentences to one of my best mates as though I was some sort of idiot. What did he take me for exactly, anyways? Did he think I just blabbed anything to Severus for the sake of it? Well, yeah, I did. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Severus was my mate, and I was worried and confided in him over it since Sirius wasn't listening to me. I knew I shouldn't have, as I had an awful worrying suspicion that werewolves were somehow the key to this whole thing and that couldn't be good at all. The next sentence blurted out of my mouth before I could even stop it. "Is Remus's mum a werewolf? Is that why he always visits her in St. Mungo's? That is so sweet of him, if he does."

At this Sirius stopped huffing and puffing in anger and looked at me like I had just gone crazy and starting declaring Snaghorns were real. His left eye twitched slightly before his furrowed brow and scowling lips eased to form the smirking features once again of the Sirius Black everyone loves.

"You are nuts, by the way, Olivia! Total nuts!" He sighed before shaking his head a few times in disbelief. He locked his eyes with my own confusion-filled set every now and then, which only caused his smile to get larger each time. "I seriously don't know why I even worry. You don't even have anything to tell!" He shook his head once more before coming over and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Ollie, I love your wacky, absent-mindedness sometimes. It really is extremely useful. Don't ever lose it." He walked off towards the portrait hole then before stopping halfway there and turning back to look at me once more, his face hard and full of concern. "And Ollie? Please don't ever trust Snape with anything but your Potions ingredients ever again. He isn't trustworthy."

I felt my brows droop in confusion as I watched him leave the common room without even so much as another look at me. My mind raced with thoughts over everything that had transpired between us. I knew Sirius wasn't angry at me. Annoyed? Yeah. But anger wasn't really something he showed towards people for very long. He was renowned for his angry outbursts at people, but as soon as he had said all he needed to say, that was it. He would just walk off and never talk of it again. Don't get me wrong. He would never apologise over it. He was almost as bad as Severus on that front. But the next time you saw him, there would always be an apologetic glint in his eye and he would just act as though nothing had ever transpired between either of you. Wasn't always the best way to deal with things, but it was his way of saying 'sorry', and that was fine by me. The only time he would ever drag something out was if you had truly upset him. Like the time when I had disarmed him. That was a real blow to his ego, that one was, so his bad mood lasted for days. It would have lasted years, I bet, if he hadn't accidentally tried to kill me with a bludger.

I stared about at my empty surroundings and wondered why I wasn't outside in the frosty grass enjoying some fresh air or Christmas shopping in Hogsmeade with Lexi. Why was I sitting in here and not out enjoying myself, you ask? Well, because I was sick to death over Remus. I couldn't help but feel that I had done more than just upset him Thursday and it wasn't sitting well with me. I didn't like upsetting Remus. He was too nice for people to be mean to him.

"Oh, screw this!" I huffed loudly before stomping off in the direction of the portrait hole after Sirius. I wasn't about to just sit back and relax and take his word over Remus's well-being. It was clear he was lying through his teeth and I was sick of it. He would just push my questioning aside the next time I saw him, and I was through with it. I was through with being shunted and being left out of the loop. I felt my anger bubble up inside me as I marched along the corridors in search of the Hospital Wing. I was going to find out my own answers and that was that.

* * *

_**Severus' POV**_

I had felt it over come me – the urge to know what they were up to. The _need_ to know what they were up to. It was consuming me and I was glad of it. I was glad of the distraction after the few days I had just had. Between having to sit next to Olivia in Potions Thursday right after that unforgettable daydream of her and then again be in her presence Friday was enough to make anyone uncomfortable. I felt more on edge around her, yet more inclined to ask her questions. It was as though I was fighting some internal battle with myself over just talking to her or distancing myself. It was becoming tiring and bothersome. I was almost at my wits end over it.

Then, there was the other small matter of Mulciber and Avery.

It had been near torture being around those idiots over the weekend. I had almost hexed the both of them underground on more than one occasion in the past twenty-four hours, between Avery sliding more-than-suggestive comments about me and Olivia into conversations any given chance, causing Mulciber to foam at the mouth with anger at the mere mention of her name, to me having to inconspicuously protect Olivia from said seething Mulciber every time it reached boiling point. So far I had sunk to using various attention grabbing moments such as hexing random but annoying Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs around him in hopes that he would be too distracted by them to even notice her presence. Needless to say, I was more than glad that my two Slytherin _friends_ had disappeared to Hogsmeade for the day, where I knew for certain Olivia was nowhere near.

The worst of all the past few days, though, was that Olivia White had no clue that I had been protecting her every time she passed us in the hall. It was almost enough to make me admit to her what was going on just to hear her shower me with thanks and compliments on it. But no. I would never sink so low as to admit aloud that I had indeed been protecting a Gryffindor for almost four days now.

"Do you need anything else from the kitchens, Wanda? Does Remus need anything?" Pomfrey's voice called out around the corner from where I was currently hiding in the shadows. "No? Alright, I will be back in a moment, then."

I waited until she had closed the Hospital Wing door and her footsteps had started down the hall before I sneaked a glance around the corner to the one place that I had been itching to get into all morning. You see, this was what I had decided to concentrate all my efforts on, in hopes of not thinking about a certain Gryffindor's silky thighs and soft lips. This was the climax of seven years' worth of hard work. I could feel it. I could almost put together now all the little fragments of the jigsaw that I had dedicated the majority of my school life finding out. I could almost see the smirks being wiped off Black and Potter's faces when I told them that I knew their big secret. They wouldn't be so smart after that. I was more than sure of it.

"Ow, ow, ow! Stupid statue getting in my way!"

I went rigid as soon as I heard it. Her voice was unmistakable to my ears. I stood frozen, my mind at a complete blank over what to do. Was she here on orders from _them_? Would she tell me what they were up to? Or was she just wandering around by herself, lost, like she has done on so many an occasion? I continued my internal argument as her figure loomed closer.

"Great. Now I need to actually use the Hospital Wing myself, as I've twisted my ankle. Wonderful job, Ollie, as usual!"

Talking to herself as always. It was a _slightly_ grating habit of hers, even if it was overly amusing the majority of times. Some of the random things her cupid bow lips would come out with were just downright absurd.

I stepped deeper into the shadows now as she stopped not a foot from my hiding position. Her back was to me, but even from this angle I could clearly see she was limping. I found myself internally berating her clumsiness and how it will no doubt one day get her seriously hurt. She was always falling over her own feet with such carelessness. It was the only real trait of hers that I found truly annoying, as it brought out a most unsavoury 'hero' side to me I'd always assumed I hadn't possessed.

"Right. All you need to do is walk over to them doors and go inside. If anyone catches you, just use the limp as an excuse. Right? Right."

I rolled my eyes at her pep talk, clearly showing my annoyance at her outspoken internal conversation, before stepping out of the shadows and grabbing her by the waist. I placed my hand firmly over her mouth to silence her screams of protest before she had even made any. It was clear now that she was sneaking into the Hospital Wing for something, and given she had an actual ailment now, I thought it wise for me to use it to my advantage as well. If only she could keep quiet for longer than ten seconds, then I would be more than minutely assured that this plan could, and would, work.

* * *

_**Olivia's POV**_

Here I was minding my own business and then _bam_ – I'm being dragged backwards into a corner by Merlin knows what, or who, for that matter! I had images of Peter and felt myself wiggle and protest even more so than before.

"Wh–" I managed out as strong, protective arms slid around my waist and pulled me back into a tall and slender warm body. Mint overpowered my senses, making me calmer almost instantly. It seemed to have this affect on me ever since I recognised it as belonging to Severus. It was so unlike me, but beggars can't be choosers when it comes to clichéd love moments, so I've long given up trying to go against then by now.

"Stop struggling before Madam Hurley hears you. You are clearly over reacting, as per usual."

I froze the moment I heard his husky voice. His hot breath breathing down my neck and making me shiver. It alone was enough to make me giggle like a little girl and start forgetting my own name, but me acting like a love sick teenager probably wouldn't sit well with Severus. I would imagine it would only put him off me even more, and I couldn't be doing with that now could I? So, as much as I regretted having to do so, I reluctantly wriggled free from his grasp and turned to face him. Our bodies still touched each other gently though as I stared wide-eyed up at his penetrating gaze. It wasn't as hardened as I had expected it to have been, but rather full of wonder and emotion. Could I get away with letting him hold me again? Would he let me fall into him 'accidentally' in the future and not get angry? I stood lost in his shining onyx eyes as my heart drummed loudly against my chest. I began to struggle with the reason why I was wandering about on the first floor of the castle in to begin with. Was I looking for something in particular? Sirius popped into my head for some reason, but I firmly shook him back out again before the ever familiar anger he stirred in me of late began to rise to the surface. I ducked my head from Severuss' view as soon as I recalled that I was sneaking about, trying to find out why Remus was so ill: why he had bee absent for days now, and most importantly, if his mother was a werewolf. I felt I had struck gold earlier with that statement for some reason.

"Let me escort you into the Hospital Wing, Olivia. You really should get that ankle seen to." The tall boy before me politely offered, before giving me a strained smile and offering his left arm to hold onto for support. He probably thought me annoying, no doubt, what with me happening to show up and disturb his ever mysterious slinking. Severus always was a slinker. It was a habit of his that most would not find endearing in the slightest, but I alone found exciting. To me it was a sign we were meant to be together. He was even nosier than I was. It was fate, surely!

Before I could even so much as nod to his offer though, or rather, declaration in his case, I was being escorted across the hall at a brisk, but not uncomfortable, pace and over to the entrance to the elusive Hospital Wing. I say elusive because it was closed, with the doors locked and with a sign draped over the handles that read: _No entry unless in dire need of medical assistance_.

"Pfft! Check out that sign! I know she's in there too as I heard Pomfrey muttering about Hurley when I passed her in the hallway," I moaned as I hobbled on one leg and clung to Severus for balance. He held me close to him, his hand griping firmly, but gently, onto my arm as he let me fume my anger without any interruptions, for once. His black robe and defined arms felt wonderful under my palms. They felt velvety to the touch and I couldn't help the little flutter my heart did every time I felt his muscles harden beneath my palms. It was making me more than a little hot and bothered, I must say. I even let my hands wander onto his chest as I searched for more 'support' from him. I was getting sneaky in my old age, I must say. "I bet she's drinking in there. She is always drinking. Surprised Dumbledore ain't fired her over it yet."

I heard Severus make some sort of noise of common agreement before knocking harshly on the doors, almost causing me to fall over in alarm at his sudden movements – they were that out of character. _Merlin, what had got his tight, crotch-hugging and sexy boxers in a twist? I only had a sprained ankle, nothing major like broken bones or whatnot. Anyway, why am I even complaining about his macho show of concern? I should just be overjoyed he has even showed any concern in the first place! I should actually just be overjoyed he hasn't just left me here to fend for myself. _I looked up at him then, only to seem him looking back down at me with a softened expression. One that held a thousands words, words I couldn't even understand if I wanted to as his gaze alone had rendered me brain dead for the moment. _What is wrong with me when I am around him, like seriously? I'm acting like a total idiot!_

Suddenly, the doors creaked open slightly, just enough to reveal half of Hurley Burly's overly round and frowning face. "What do you two want?" she scowled down at us both as she spoke, her beady little eyes narrowing and landing squarely on me. "You, my dear, have another thing coming if you think you are going to pull the wool over my eyes once again. I'm sick to death of your exaggerations! So either state you are on death's door or be gone with you. The both of you! The Hospital Wing is closed except for emergencies!"

My jaw fell open in horror. What the blooming hell was that all about? Well, I suppose I have overly exaggerated illnesses in the past so I could skip certain classes that I hadn't yet finished homework for, but really, who screams at someone like that? Clearly the ever caring School Nurse, that's who! Jeez, she should be lucky I have paid her a visit at all and not just tried to do one of my DIY jobs on it. I was extremely bad at medical spells...

"Sorry to _intrude_, Madam Hurley," my Slytherin knight in shining armour coolly addressed the still frowning nurse, before indicating down at my now swollen and discoloured ankle and continuing his calm but sharp statement, "but Miss White here has _severely_ hurt her ankle and needs seen to right away."

I knew Severus was lying for her benefit, as we both knew my ankle was barely even sprained. Bruised and swelling up like one of Janis Helmsmen's pimples? Yes. But not life threatening, that was for sure. But since this plan might actually get me access to a certain _unattainable_ Mr Lupin, I scrunched my face in pain for added emphasis all the same. Even clung to a rigid and stern-looking Severus a little closer than necessary, but that was more for my own personal reasons than for the cause at hand. I might never get a chance to snuggle with him ever again. I had to savour this moment forever. And savour it I will...

Hard eyes scanned over us for a few seconds before she grunted distastefully and then opened the door wider to let us both in. "I shall be the judge of that myself, Mr Snape. Over on the bed with you then, Miss White, and I will see what exactly is the big problem here."

He politely nodded his thanks to her before very carefully helping me limp over to the bed closest to the door and the one that she was currently indicating for us to go to. My eyes curiously scanned my surroundings, and I looked for any sight of Remus but came up short as Hurley's stalky frame cut my searching short by suddenly appearing right before me and blocking my view. I looked over to Severus for some sort of help, hoping that his rare show of care wasn't going to end so quickly and that it might even extend to keeping me company until I was done being scrutinized by the still fuming, if now slightly concerned-looking, nurse. I noticed he, too, was scanning the beds around us with a highly suspicious gaze as he stood with his arms crossed firmly over his chest defensively. I didn't fail to notice how his eyes lit up and a small smile shadowed his face as his gaze stopped at the far right of the very back of the empty-bed-ridden room. Oh, Merlin, he is looking for Remus too, isn't he? I have led the one person on earth, who Sirius and the Marauders would never want knowing what was going on, right into the thick of their secrets. Boy, was I regretting ever being so nosey now!

A sudden horse-like sound drew my attention away from my internal fretting and over to a huffing and flustered-looking nurse. She seemed annoyed, more so than before, for some reason. Her eyes moved from left to right faster than necessary as she held her right hand under her chin in a slightly pensive pose. She huffed louder this time before finally opening her broad, unsavoury mouth to say, "I'm afraid I'm all out of the potion I need..." Her eyes scanned over us wearily, muttering something about 'Where is that blasted Poppy?' before sighing deeply in defeat and addressing us once again, "...so I will need to visit Professor Slughorn and see if he has any more freshly brewed vials available." Before she turned her back on us and hurried out the door and down to the dungeons, she narrowed her beady eyes at us as a final warning not to cause any trouble while she was gone.

"Thank Merlin, she's gone!" I breathed out heavily as my torso seemed to crumple in on itself in utter relief from finally escaping her hate-filled glare. I thought for a moment there she was going to just chuck us out on our ears or worse, stand glaring at us until poor Pomfrey came back. The last thing I had expected her to do though was to just leave us alone and unsupervised. I turned to smile at Severus, wanting to express to him how happy I was that we were alone together, only to see him pottering down the middle of the room. His frame was set stiff and he was walking with the stride of a man with a mission. I glanced further down to see where he was headed, only for my face to turn ashen white. "Severus! What-what you doing?"

He ignored me. Well, I hadn't really expected him to reply. I wasn't stupid enough to think that, but I had at least hoped he would have flinched or stopped or something, at the very least. What was I today, invisible to people? I huffed indignantly as I slithered off the bed and began hobbling after him, very grateful for once that he was walking slow and steady instead of his usual gait which caused his school robes to fly about him like some sort of bat wings. Sexy bat wings, I might add.

"Severus, wait up! Severus, don't– Ooft!"

And with that, Ladies and Gentlemen, I fell over my feet, again I might add, and landed square on my face, my fidgeting arms breaking my fall as per usual. _Well, looks like old Nurse Hurley will be fixing more than just my spraint ankle when she comes back_, I thought while I lay on the floor like an invalid and nursed my wrist with my free hand. My nose hurt a lot also, but I wasn't bothered by that. Over the years my face had worked up quite an immunity to my clumsy falls. It seems that if you repeatedly fall on something more than twice a day, you can't feel pain there any more. Fascinating knowledge, isn't it?

I looked up suddenly to see where Severus was, hoping with all hope that my thundering fall was enough to break his concentration this time, only to see him not there in the path before me. The beds were still all empty, bar one, and the hall of floor between them was now just as blank. _Where the hell has he gotten to now?_

"Did you hurt yourself?"

My head snapped behind me, only to be greeted with my neck cracking painfully, and with a sympathetic but frustrated-looking Severus Snape. I eyed him cautiously as I went to rub my neck, his pale, lithe hands beating me to it, however. I sat frozen to the floor, staring up into his eyes. The control he had in his face was unparalleled as we stared at each other intently. He looked as though he was trying very hard not to show emotion. But even if he was doing a good job on his expression, I could read his eyes like a book. He looked torn with himself over something, but for once, I wasn't going to be the one to mention it and ruin the moment. I was sick of ruining the moments between us.

"You should watch where you are going in the future," he stated simply, his voice unexpectedly soft but still holding a little of its usual bite. His eyes dropped from mine and onto the cold stone floor. His hand remained on my neck, still and unmoving as though he was afraid of even touching me. I helped him with his dilemma, even if I didn't want to, and shrugged his hand from my shoulders ungracefully. He didn't even flinch at my unusual actions causing me to move further away from him. I attempted to stand up, swaying a few times before I finally managed to hobble on my good foot steadily enough to walk.

"I think we should go back to the bed and wait for Madam Hurley. I don't fancy falling again while she is away," I said with sarcasm-laced words, although it didn't hold much of my normal tone as it was so obviously forced. I hadn't a clue as to what to say or do now that we were both acting so strangely.

He looked up at me, his eyes dark tunnels once more, before glancing behind me and to the one occupied bed in the room. It was safe to say that we both knew what the other was doing. I was avoiding the bed like it was the unmentionable elephant in the room, while he was doing his very best not to look at it, as it was nothing but the elephant in the room to him. It was all very shallow of us both.

Before either of us could continue our Mexican stand off, however, a noise sounded behind us from the bed, causing us both to acknowledge it's presence whether we wanted to or not.

"That's Lupin over there, isn't it? What's wrong with him? Why has he been in here so long? Why isn't anyone else allowed in while he is being treated? You of all people must know." His voice was much more rushed than usual. In fact, I didn't think I could ever recall a time that I had heard him so desperate-sounding in all my life. It was as clear as day now that he was just as bitter as ever over the Marauders. I lowered my head in shame for being friends with the very same people who had done nothing but torture him to make him feel this way. This was his revenge. It was pure and simple.

"I don't know," I lamely stated. It may have been the truth, but it sounded like a lie, even to me. Who would believe that I didn't know what was wrong with someone who I had known for nearly seven years? Exactly. No-one. It was ridiculous sounding.

Severus scoffed, his suddenly desperate and pleading nature had gone as quickly as it had come. "You don't expect me to believe that, do you? It's clear as day that Black would tell you anything – everything, in fact. So just tell me. What is wrong with Lupin? What are they up to, Olivia?"

My hands fiddled helplessly with each other as I began sweating slightly. What was I going to tell him? He didn't believe the truth, and he would be able to detect a lie before I had even conjured one up. But then again, I wanted to know the truth just as much as he did, so was it wise to just be honest with him and peak in on Remus with him? The more appealing the idea sounded, the more my conscious was telling me that as much as I wanted to know what was wrong with Remus, I couldn't do that to my friend. I couldn't invade the secretive boy's life like that and invite Severus of all people in to see it as well. It just wouldn't be right, no matter how tempting it felt.

Severus held that look of conflict in his eyes again – that look, which clearly said he himself was at a loss over what to do. He continued to stare between me and the curtain-drawn bed for a further few seconds before marching past me and over towards the source of our conversation. I gulped loudly before hobbling after him.

"Severus, don't! Please don't! What if he is highly contagious or something? There must be a reason no-one has been allowed in! Think about it!"

My calls of reason did nothing but spur him on. His robe billowed behind him like his infamous wings, only this time there was nothing sexy about it at all. Just stomach turning. It was a sign he was determined and almost everyone in the school knew that when a Slytherin set his mind on something, he wouldn't stop until he got it. I used to find it a very alluring trait, until now, that was. Now, it just seemed like a selfish mannerism which the whole of Slytherin could do without.

I managed to catch up with him just as he reached the bed, his hands outstretched and ready to unveil Merlin only knows what to us both. I felt that feeling of overpowering curiosity rise in me again as I heard the very distinctive noise of a sleeping Remus Lupin sound right before us. My eyes looked up at Severus before I guiltily nodded my approval for him to open the curtains. I knew he wasn't waiting for me to give him my blessing, but he took my nod as a sign to go and clasp the hospital white material with his steady hands. My own hands where shaking madly in anticipation as I felt my brow sweat with undeniable guilt. I was going to regret this big time, I was sure of it.

Black orbs bulged at mine as Severus tried in vein to open the closed curtains but to no avail. They wouldn't budge in the slightest. I looked up at him in curiosity, my heart beating so fast I was sure he could hear it. I'm not going to lie and say I wasn't relieved that they wouldn't open, but I also can't lie and say that it didn't further my curiosity even more. Because it did. A lot!

"Miss White! Mr Snape! What are you two doing?"

I froze like someone had just hit me with a freezing hex. My spine ached as I stood rigid like a board. My eyes widened in horror at being caught, yet again, doing something that I shouldn't. I didn't even dare to even glance next to me to see what Severus was up to. I was more than sure already that he would be just as shocked-looking as me, minus the guilt, that is. Slytherins never felt guilty, or so I assumed anyway, even if I didn't want to believe it.

"Leave that curtain alone right now and come here! Where is Madam Hurley? Oh, you two shouldn't be in here at all! No-one should be in here at all..."

I felt Severus grab my arm as he began to lead us down to the front of the room where Madam Pomfrey was now tittering about nervously near the door. I didn't think I had ever seen her so scandalised in my life! Gone was the pleasant smile from her face, which was replaced with heavy worry lines and a deep-setted frown. She looked much older than her thirties now, and much more fierce also. We were standing next to her angry-looking form much sooner than I had expected.

"Now, explain yourselves, and make it quick!" she shot out in a tone which sounded much more like Madam Hurley's than of her own. I cowered a little at hearing it, feeling like an idiot as I did so. What was the worst little Pomfrey could do to us? She was the sweet one, the kind one, for crying out loud! She wouldn't march us up to see Dumbledore like Madam Hurley had, would she?

"Miss White here has hurt herself and I escorted her here for some assistance. Madam Hurley let us in before she had to leave to retrieve some potions from Professor Slughorn."

How he managed to remain so calm was beyond me. I felt sick to my stomach now, for more reasons than one; I didn't have any free days this week for yet another detention, **if **we were only going to get landed with a measly detention, that was; and most importantly, I was dreading when Sirius found out. He was sure to murder me for being so arrogantly nosey and just having to stick my butt in where I was clearly not wanted at all. Then to top it all off, I had to drag Severus in to my nosiness as well. Merlin, I was going to get crucified tonight when I got back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Oh-oh right, very well then," I heard the young nurse stumble out before she took me from Severus's tight, protective grasp and led me over to the original bed that I had sat on. She eyed me over once before looking over to a curious-looking Severus and telling him to sit on the bed next to me. Her eyes narrowed as she began to speak once more, "Madam Hurley might've let you two in, but I am sure she didn't give you both permission to go snooping around the beds and disturbing things. Detention for both of you, Wednesday night at seven with Filch. You will need to learn that snooping will get you nothing but your hands burnt." She glared at the both of us for a long moment before looking much more like her usual kind self. "Now let me have a look at you, Mr Snape. Those burns look mighty bad even if you do deserve them."

And it was then that I finally looked over at Severus only to see him reluctantly exposing the palms of his hands, which were covered in blisters and red burns, to the tutting medical witch. _Merlin, remind me never to go snooping about in the Hospital Wing ever again!_ I thought as I took a tentative glance back at the innocent-looking curtained bed, which had caused my lovely Slytherin so much pain. There was one thing though that I just couldn't shake (well, two things, I suppose): why was there so much protection around that bed if Remus was only ill? What could possibly be wrong with him which the school was taking that much precaution over? And worst of all, had Remus heard us snooping about? That, of all things, I hadn't ever thought of until now. What would he think of me if he knew I was so horribly desperate to find out what was going on with him, that I would invade his trust like that? I bowed my head in shame at the mere thought.

_At this rate,_ I thought, _I will be friendless and expelled by Christmas. What a present to give to my parents, eh? I can just picture the _**proud**_ looks on their faces now at seeing me booted out on my ear for being nosier than Filch. Oh dear..._


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N:** Well theres nothing much that I can really say that will make you guys forgive me for the long wait, is there? Sorry? :S Worth a shot! Lol.

I have some small excuses, started college, lost interest in writing, illness, yadda yadda, but none that stretch like six months long, so to everyone who lovingly decides to forgive my (long) abscence and continues reading my story; _I LOVE YOU! Have a cookie. Virtual, of course. :P_

Enjoy chapter 24, its been looooooooooooong overdue! :]

Chapter Twenty-Four: Well Now I Am Just Dying To Know!

"You look on edge? Are you okay? You have been acting all funny the last few days..."

Her words fell on deaf ears as I continued staring ahead at the flames before me with non blinking eyes. My mind was numb at the moment and so was my tongue. I didn't know what to say to anyone the last few days and it was getting me noticed by all the wrong people. All the people I wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Olivia, are you sure you are okay? That nothing happened with, ehm, _you know who, _over the weekend?"

I felt my forehead starting to sweat at just the hint of his name. It did nothing but fill me with guilt since I decided to go snooping around with him on Sunday. I felt sick even thinking about it now. Every time I saw him hiding his still bandaged hands from me or each time he tried to talk to me about Remus. Everything was just so awkward between us since the accident in the Hospital Wing I actually _didn't_ want to see him all the time any more. Well, not directly anyway. I still liked to gape and drool from afar. Some obsessions are hard to shake.

"Earth to Ollie! Are you even listening to a word I am saying to you?" Lexi's voice rang out in a laughing way as she gently nudged my shoulder with her own. "You aren't having one of your dirty daydreams again are you? Merlin knows I am not sitting here listening to you murmuring strange things under your breath all break again!"

She nudged me again, only much harder this time causing my staring match to be interrupted and my mind to come back to the real world once more. I strained a small smile at her musings before nudging her in return and knocking her off the couch and onto the Common Room floor. She landed with all the grace of a feline, as per usual. I swear she is half cat.

"You're just jealous you don't have enough imagination to have filthy thoughts. It takes a lot of creativity, something _you_ obviously have very little of" I lightly mocked in a vein attempt to try and involve myself in the conversation. I felt like I hadn't had a real one for days I was avoiding people that much.

"That really hurt you know!" She managed to grumble out as she gracefully made her way back onto her feet and began dusting off her immaculate robes. "Besides," she grinned to herself, "I don't need an imagination. I have Sirius Black. He has enough dirt in his mind for the four House Quidditch teams, and then some!"

I smiled wryly at her remark. It sounded like something I would say; something overly personal and filthy. I was obviously rubbing off on her much more that I had thought. Seven years worth of friendship would do that to someone though. It was surprising how much more homework I did nowadays compared to our first year when we hardly knew each other.

The sudden noise of several people making their way across the room interrupted our chat. I noticed Lexi checking her watch before beaming brightly to herself and grabbing her satchel from the floor.

"I better hurry if I'm going to make it to Divination on time. I don't want to miss anything exciting!" she gushed as she began taking lengthy strides towards the Portrait Hole. "Are you coming? You have Herbology with Remus do you not? Say hi to him for me, will you? I missed him at breakfast today. Wanted to finish this Divination essay."

I tried to hide my frown as I reached for my own bag before following after her, my mood back to being awkward and ashamed once more. Mood swings were entirely common to me these last few days. One moment someone could be chatting away to me about some new Defence spell or Christmas and I would be laughing and joking, then suddenly they would ask after how Remus was or I would catch a glimpse of Severus walking past and my façade would crumble into pieces. I was on edge all the time around everyone while trying to act normal at the same time so they wouldn't think something was up. I was a total mess.

The loud bell rang once more signalling it was time to get to our next class.

"See you at lunch, Ollie!"

I caught sight of a blonde blur running down the stairs before I mumbled sarcastically after her, "yeah, sure. If I make it till then that is..."

* * *

"Might of known you would be late, Miss White," Professor Sprout mumbled under her breath, her annoyance only evident for a moment before she smiled once more to no-one in particular and continued in her usual cheery and obnoxiously loud tone of voice, "we've barely started though so just take your seat so we can continue. We're talking about Mandrakes today."

I gave her a small and nervous smile before making the walk up to the back of the class where Remus sat alone, staring intently down at the worn wooden table like he was lost in thought (or trying desperately to avoid my gaze like it would be the death of him). I seriously hoped for the former, or that he had just fallen asleep. Yeah, fallen asleep is the least confrontational option so lets settle on that.

My fingers twitched at my sides as my mind began to debate over how much he had heard in the Hospital Wing on Sunday. I caught his gaze as I took my seat beside him. Sadness and worry shone in his greying orbs making me swear silently under my breath. He definitely wasn't asleep, and unquestionably had something on his mind, that was more than evident.

"As I was saying, our Mandrakes will be needing replanting again soon as they are almost finished their adolescence and will need bigger pots before they reach their final stage of maturity. Today we will be running over the safe handling procedures and what you should and shouldn't do. Most importantly not to poke them for your own amusement. Are you listening, Mr Jacobs? I am personally referring..."

My mind dipped out of Sprout's eye rolling telling off and I started to pick at the hem of my skirt in a vain attempt at something amusing to do. _I really need new tights_, I mentally decided as my fingers rubbed over a large ladder on my thigh. _Great, not only do they make me look about ten, they now make me look tramp-ish also. I now officially hate winter._

"How-how are you? You seemed, distant, the last few days..."

My shocked agape expression shot to my partner beside me as his timid, almost saddened, voice whispered in my direction.

"Distant?" I mumbled. _Damn, he most definitely knows I was creeping about his Hospital bed Sunday_. "I'm not being distant! Just-just...busy is all..."

My forced silent chuckled did nothing but make him and myself grimace.

"Ah, okay. I see..." His eyes dropped to stare oddly down at our table once more making my heart clench at the sheer vibe of, something, that radiated off him. I didn't quite know what it was, but if I had to guess I would of picked angry and saddened. Two emotions that made me squirm with guilt. I felt myself ready to crack and spill my guilty guts all over the table, when Remus decided to speak again. His tone holding a slightly protective tone like that of a wiser and older brother. "It's Severus again, isn't it? I may not feel as harshly about him as the rest of our group, Olivia, but if he is going to treat you badly, I won't hesitate to inform Sirius and help him plan a form of revenge. Otherwise known as me casting a blind eye to whatever plan he will have in store for him."

His eyes held a small twinkle, one of the mischievous kind that he usually wasn't prone to wearing. His words not filled with sadness anymore but just tinged with it. Almost as though he was trying to hide something that was upsetting him by focussing on me. I should know, I was the Queen of subject avoiding. Or, so I liked to think, anyways.

I did the only appropriate thing I knew to do in awkward situations like this; I laughed. Hard.

It was the ironic awkward sort of laughter that I only ever found myself doing in situations that never called for it. Like at weddings and funerals and generally anywhere else when people seemed to cry a lot. I didn't like people crying around me. It made me feel awkward, which in turn made me act strange. Or, _stranger_ I should say. My family was used to it by now, but by the look on Remus' face, it seemed he wasn't. I couldn't help but think of how this situation must be reminding him of our crazy date last year and of exactly just how many screws my head really had loose. I was surprised he even let me sit beside him in class still!

"Sorry," I mumbled as my laughter finally died down. I ignored the small look that Sprout shot me before she continued lecturing the class on Mandrakes once again. She never was one for handing out Detentions, she would just torture her pupils in other ways. Like giving them the crankiest and vilest Mandrake to re-plant next week..."You think I've been avoiding people because of Severus?"

Remus nodded un-surely at me know, my laughter clearly having had an odd effect on him.

I just smiled, thoroughly relieved to know that he didn't have a clue what went on in the Hospital Wing now. It never eased my guilt any, I still felt terrible at invading his privacy and sneaking about like some shifty Slytherin with an _actual_ shifty Slytherin, but at least now I knew I didn't have to worry about being confronted over it. As per usual, I could wander off into the Forbidden Forest if someone dared me to without a second thought, but the mere idea of even a small argument made me want to go hide in a cave for a weak or Obliviate people so they would forget wanting to confront me in the first place.

I smiled wryly at Remus before poking his shoulder in a comical sense, something that he seemed slightly uncomfortable with. He never was one for touching. "Just ignore me and my strange behaviour from now on, okay? Nothing to worry about at all so don't be going and telling Sirius. I'm just kinda odd sometimes. You of all people should know that!"

His eyes smiled more easily now than they had when our strange conversation had begun, but that didn't stop him from sliding over and away from me a bit as I chuckled insanely to myself. His light gentle voice muttered something about 'odd indeed' before he too laughed lightly at my oddities. Of which, there are many. Too many!

* * *

Weightless.

That's how I felt as I strolled through the crowded corridors of Hogwarts that afternoon. Utterly weightless and almost happy. I say almost, as I couldn't quite shift all my guilt away. Not this soon anyway, but I felt like I had done a 360 degree emotional turn in just a few hours. It was almost as though finding out that I was off the hook with Remus had made me feel like the whole snooping ordeal hadn't happened at all. Strange how a few little words from one specific person can change your whole demeanour, isn't?

"Olivia!"

And just like that, I found myself backtracking into a saddened and worried state once more.

"You called, Vincent?" I sighed monotonously as I stopped walking down the second floor corridor. My body forcing me to stop and listen to what he had to say, but refusing to actually turn around and face him head on knowing full well that there would be no escaping the conversation if I did.

"Thank goodness I caught up with you!" He gasped as he stopped in perfect line beside me. His chest was heaving quite a bit as he breathed deeply in between his words. If he was in that much of a panic to talk to me then it was definitely bad news he was delivering. "Lexi, said I had just missed you at lunch. Shame, as I was hoping to ask you to eat with me at the Ravenclaw table today."

_Maybe the news wouldn't be all bad,_ I thought happily as I relished in the fact that I had just managed to dodge out of a very awkward and very _long _lunch with him.

"Shame we missed each other then, as eating with you sounds like it would be a blast".

He shot me a smile Witch Weekly would award best in show as he turned to face me head on, therefore inexplicably cornering off my only exit away from him.

"Shame indeed, as I am sure you would make for very interesting company."

Clearly my sarcasm didn't work on him. _Mental note; never try to be amusing around this man ever again in case he takes one of the comments as a marriage proposal_.

I reluctantly let my gaze drift up to meet his as my feet shuffled awkwardly around on the stone floor. Even my hands were starting to twitch uncontrollably at my back I was that nervous. I hated being nervous, I always ended up doing something silly or untoward when I was wrecked with nerves.

"Most likely too interesting I think."

_Merlin, why was I even continuing to talk to this Hulk of a boy I don't know!_ He might be cutting off all available routes that I could use to run away from this situation, but that didn't mean I had to stand here replying to him and keep him standing before me with his hands on my shoulder did it? _Wait, where his hands there before?!_

"I knew you had a good sense of humour about you, Olivia," his giant brick hands rubbed up and down my arms as he continued to speak in this strange buttery tone that wasn't present before, "I always like my girls to have a sense of humour."

_M-my girls?_ Oh dear, I had a really bad feeling about where this was going now. My stomach felt like lead as I swallowed what felt like my own internal organs back down, the need to vomit rising in me like an inward tide.

His eyes twinkled before he shot me, what I assume he thought, was a cheeky wink. To me, it only made him look like he had sand in his eye and was attempting to squeeze it out. I felt my face contorting into some aghast expression as my body slowly began backing away from his the moment I saw his lips begin to move again. _And here it comes..._

"As we both seem to feel the same way, would you be so kind as to let me escort you to Hogsmeade Saturday?" My mouth opened and closed a few times completely at a lost for what to say. "I wont take no for an answer now" he added jovially like we were old friends or something else even more disturbing; lovers. I smiled meekly before coughing out a forced and shocked laugh as his large paws continued to stroke my arms like they were petting a Golden Retriever.

"I need to go..." I managed out. My voice hardly above a whisper as I looked for some sort of way to slide away from Vincent and back to reality where I enjoyed being ignored by the 'catch of the day' and avoided Quidditch players with no personality at all costs.

"Only if you agree to letting me take you out Saturday. It will be fun, I promise."

I was sweating profusely now as my eyes started darting animatedly between his shinning smile and his twinkling eyes. My mind running at three hundred miles an hour as it failed to process an answer to give him which would give me the quickest getaway.

"Sure, whatever," I squeaked nervously before jumping away from him like he was a burning flame, "I need to go..."

My strange answer caught him off guard apparently as he let go of my arms and gazed at me with a stupid expression on his face which made him look like a well dressed Ogre. I took this as my opportunity to flee, and flee I did. Fast, and without looking back. Not even when he shouted after me that my 'shyness' was cute and he would meet me at 5pm in the Entrance Hall Saturday.

I felt my nerves turn to anger as the penny dropped.

_I am going to kill that interfering, date setting woman!_ I internally cursed as I marched through the halls like a woman on a mission. A mission to find a certain Lexi Kingsley and to give her an earache for sending that buffoon off after me!


End file.
