The Snake and the Raven
Summary: Starting out as unlikely friends in Hogwarts, you and Severus donât realize your feelings for each other until adulthood. When the world is dark and bloody, at least you have each other.
Warnings: none I think, but buckle up, this is gonna be a long ride
Parts: Prologue (½) || Prologue (2/2) || Part 1 || (I will link the rest as they are posted.)
Prologue (Part ½): When We Were Young
Word Count: 2.5k
âHi, Severus.â You said quietly as you sat in the chair next to his own. He acknowledges you by taking his eyes away from his book to look at you, the chair, back to you then back to his book. You were used to this reaction from your fellow first-year. Even when you would run into each otherâs families as children he had the same closed off reaction to your presence. You didnât mind though. You took comfort in the quiet times you could spend together reading.
âHi.â Your eyes snapped up from the cover of the book you had grabbed and looked to the boy sitting next to you. His eyes were still scanning the pages of his own book, but you knew you hadnât imagined it. You smiled softly and leaned back in your chair to begin reading your own novel. You knew he would warm up to you eventually.
By your second year, you had graduated from âHiâ to small conversations. Never too long or too personal though, otherwise he would shut down and become tight-lipped. Sometimes, would even walk away from you. You learned not to push him. You were grateful for the few conversations you would have. Particularly about Potions. It was the only time you would see his eyes truly light up and talk almost enthusiastically about the subject. You were thankful that your mother had been so into Herbology. Not only did it make that class so much easier for you, but you could also nerd out with Severus on certain plant properties and the best way to mix them into your brews.
âHere, look, like this.â You watch with curious eyes as he uses the broad side of the knife to crush the Sopophorous Bean. You and Snape, had gotten permission from your professor to use the classroom before class to practice some of your potions. Now the two of your were standing shoulder to shoulder making the Draught of the Living Dead âItâs much simpler this way.â
âI must say, Iâm impressed Snape.â Straight forward, very Slytherin of him. âBut, isnât this potion for the advanced class?â He lets a small smirk grace his lips as a response. You canât help, but smile back. Itâs not often that he gets so close to a smile. Itâs usually if heâs talking about potions or Lily. He always smiled brighter when he spoke to her, and you couldnât blame him. Lily was probably one of the sweetest people you had ever met and apparently, they had been friends for a long time and eventually, she would become one of your best friends.
âReally Potter?â You ask, snatching the book that was once in Severusâ hands out of the air with Accio and handing it back to your friend. He and his group had found you and Severus at your spot in the library. Your glare turns to the Gryffindor with glasses and his snickering entourage. âWhat are you? 5?â Youâd think that being third-years would mean that they would at least mature a little bit, but alas, you donât think theyâll ever change.
âOh, come on lil Raven.â You didnât like that nickname. What mightâve been endearing sounds condescending coming out of his mouth. âWeâre just having a bit of fun. Right Sev?â Sirius Black steps up, a hand on Potterâs shoulder and his eyes on Severus. He simply glares back at him and starts walking away. âWhereâre ya going?â They all have a laugh. You grab your book bag and secure your own book inside of it, not to have it end up flying away as well and follow after Severus.
âEw.â Was all you said as you and some of your girl friends were sitting the fountain together. Each of them sharing what boys they thought were cute this year. âPotter? James Potter? Really Lily?â
âI donât know, I just think heâs kind of cute.â She says shyly. You let out grunt. You really didnât like him and even the thought of her finding him in any way attractive made you want to gag. He was far too arrogant for your tastes, the whole lot of them were.
âWell, what about you, y/n? Who do you have eyes for here?â You friend Elizabeth asks from her spot next to the fountain, her sketches strewn about on the ground as she tries to find the best way to draw a hippogriff.
âNo one.â You respond stubbornly, crossing your arms in defiance. There was a certain raven-haired boy that came to mind, but you wouldnât dare speak his name. Besides, you saw the way he looked at Lily. You wouldnât even have a chance. You wouldnât want to ruin the friendship you had worked so hard to cultivate over the past few years.
âOh come on that canât be true.â Your heart nearly leapt out of your chest and you almost fell backwards into the fountain when a familiar voice popped into your ear out of no where. The culprit laughed and took the spot next to you on the stone, too close.
âNot funny Sirius.â you deadpanned.
âIt was a little funny.â Remus walked from around the fountain to stand infront of your group. Thatâs two of four, thereâs no way the other two arenât with them. Sure enough Potter and Pettirgew come around the other side.
âHello, ladies.â He turns his attention to Lily. âHi, Lily.â His voice was softer when he spoke to her and she blushed, you rolled your eyes. He sat next to her on the fountain and started his own conversation.
âSeriously though, who do you thinkâs cute?â Sirius asks, wiggling his eyebrows at you. If you rolled your eyes any more today they were sure to roll out of your head.
âNone of your business.â you started grabbing your bag to stand, careful not to step on Lizâs drawings.
âAw come on little Raven, you can tell us. Donât leave.â He had grabbed the sleeve of your robe to pull you back. When you stepped back from the force you stepped on the bottom of your robe and lost your balance, falling into the fountain. There was a scream from Lily and Elizabeth probably splashing both of them and laughter coming from some of the boys. You sat up and saw red and shot daggers at Black that had gone wide-eyed. It wasnât his intention to sent you flying into the fountain. He reached out his hand with an apologetic expression, but you slapped it away. You pulled yourself back up to the ledge by yourself.
âY/n, are you okay?â Lily asks, a hand on your shoulder.â You stand up and grab your bookbag from the ground, you had dropped it during the fall.
âIâm fine.â You tried to keep your voice from breaking. Youâd be damned if youâd let those boys see you cry.
âIâm really sorry. I didnât mean t-â You swing around to face Sirius, standing now too, and just glared at him. If looks could kill, heâd be six feet under. Heâd never seen you so furious. Without another word, you turned and started heading toward the lake. No one followed.
You found a sunny spot next to a tree by the lake and unclipped your school robe and laid it across one of the low handing branches. You set your bag down on the ground and sat down next to it, hugging your knees and pulling them into your chest. Only then did you let a few silent tears fall. Thatâs when you heard quiet footsteps approaching you.
âGo away Sirius, I donât want to talk to you.â A pause.
âItâs Severus.â You looked up quickly to find your friend staring down at you, confusion written all over his face. âWhy are you all wet?â You couldnât help it then, and the tears overflowed onto your cheeks. Severus looked at you like a dear in headlights. âI-I didnât-â He wasnât sure what to do, he had never seen you cry before and he didnât exactly know how to comfort anyone that was. He opted to sit down next to your carefully and pulled out his wand. âHold still.â You sniffled and nodded your head. With of the flick of his wrist you were dry. Even your tears that had been on your cheeks moments before were now gone.
âHowâd you do that?â You asks astonished.
âMagic.â He replies matter-of-factly. You know he wasnât trying to be funny, but you couldnât help but let out a laugh. âWhatâs so funny?â He asks, putting his wand back in his robes.
âNothing, nothing.â You wave your hand in dismissal. Then rest your arms ontop of your knees. âThank you Severus.â He gives you a nod then stares at you for a beat.
âWhy were you all wet?â He asks again. You frown and look away and back to the lake.
âSirius pulled me into the fountain.â You could feel his body tense next to you. Heâd grown to hate that group of boys, even more so this year. It seemed like Potter had a personal grudge against him and was always finding new ways to pus his buttons. âI donât think he meant toâŚâ You add softly and Severus snorts.
âI doubt that.â Maybe you did too. You just couldnât get the way he was looking at you when you opened your eyes after falling. It looked like genuine remorse on his face.
âMaybe youâre right.â
âI usually am.â You smirk and turn your head back to him. He had already pulled out his book and started reading, leaned up against the tree.
âThatâs very cheeky of you.â
âItâs the truth.â You let out another small laugh and he glances up at you. You hadnât noticed the slight blush on his cheeks as he watched you laugh.
Once your fourth-year rolled around things started to shift. Lily and James started dating during the second term which meant even more face time with the boys who had taken to calling themselves the Mauraders. It was fitting for as much as they terrorized the school. Thankfully their little group had lightened up on you a bit, Sirius included. At first he avoided you like the plague after he pulled you into that fountain last year, but when Lily and James started dating, he knew heâd have to say something with as often as you were seeing each other.
âHey, can we talk?â He found you in the library in your usual spot with Severus. You hadnât even bothered to look up at him.
âNo.â You lick your finger and turn the page of your novel. Hearing Sev let out a quiet snicker. You heard Sirius sigh softly.
âPlease?â You met his eyes then. The were softer than usual, and pleading for you to hear him out. You close your eyes along with your book and stand up, placing it in your spot on the chair. You open you eyes to look at him again and he looks far more hopeful.
âAlright then.â The two of you walk out of earshot of your friend and you could feel his eyes boring into your back. Thatâs when Sirius apologized. It wasnât just a sorry, but a truly heartfelt apology. You had never heard him sound so sincere. So, you forgave him and agreed to be his friend, after much pleading on his end. You just couldnât say no to those puppy dog eyes. By the time you parted ways and turned back towards your chair, Severus was gone. Later that day, you saw him at dinner. Sitting by himself, per usual. You wondered why he had abandoned you earlier without a word. It wasnât like him. At the very least he would give you a short nod goodbye.
âY/n?â You felt your cheeks flush at being caught staring and turn your attention to Lily.
âYeah?â
âJames wanted to know if you wanted to come to the Gryfindor party tonight?â They had never invited you to one of those before, but that wasnât really your scene. You appreciated the sentiment however.
âOh, no thanks.â You took your fork and started playing with the food on your plate.
âCome on lil RavenâŚItâll be funnn.â You look up to Sirius siting across from you waggling his eyebrows and then point his own fork at you. âIt wouldnât hurt to let loose you know.â You roll your eyes and focus on your food again.
âThanks, but no thanks Black.â You hear him whine like a kicked dog before he went back to eating. You look back towards where Severus was and he was looking your way. More specifically, glaring at James wiping some frosting off of Lilyâs cheek. âIâll be right back.â You push off the table and swing your legs over the bench and make your way to your Slytherin friend. He only stops his glaring when youâre sitting down infront of him. âKeep that up and youâll burn a hole through his skull.â
âWe can only hope.â You let out a dry laugh then cross your arms over the table.
âWhereâd you go earlier?â He looked in your eyes then. There was something there, but you werenât quite sure what it was.
âI thought you wanted to spend some time with your new boyfriend.â You didnât like his tone.
âBoyfriend?â
âYou twoâve been spending more time together this year. I thought you didnât like him, especially since what he did to you last year.â
âIts not like I have a choice Severus, heâs one of Jamesâ best friends. Besides, He didnât mean it. He apologized for it, he wasnât asking me out on a date.â Not that it should matter to him.
âAnd if he was?â
âWas what?â
âAsking you out on a date, would you go with the mongrel?â
âThatâs not very nice Severus.â
âSo you would then.â
âThatâs not what I said.â
âWhatever.â He went back to reading his book. You grabbed it from him and slammed it shut. He glared at you. Heâd never looked at you like that before. But, you didnât falter.
âWhatâs wrong with you Sev ? Weâre supposed to be friends.â
âAre we?â That hurt. You narrowed your eyes at him.
âWhatâs that supposed to mean?â
âItâs a simple question, y/n. Or has your brain rotted from spending too much time with them?â Thatâs it.
âFine, Severus. Push your only friend away, see where that gets you.â You stand up from the bench and shove the book back towards him so hard he lets out a grunt when it hits his chest. âAnd to answer your question.â You say, putting your hands on the table and leaning down. âI would say yes.â There was venom in your voice as you whispered to him that you would indeed go out with Black if he asked. He knew the dig was intentional, but it didnât hurt any less than you intended. He glared right back at you. You pushed off the table and stormed out of the Great Hall. His eyes trailed after you, ashamed of his actions. Sure, he had said some insensitive things to you before, but he had never been so attacking of your character. Youâd forgive him, surely you would. You always did. He was watching the doors of the Great Hall close, but before they could he saw Sirius Black rush out of them, presumably after you. His blood boiled.
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