Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Five

Oops I'm gonna be late for online school :)

Herbology, it turned out, was just glorified gardening. And the Ravenclaws, it turned out, were just show offs. So the first two hours of lessons at Hogwarts were spent with Silvanna picking dirt from her nails and answering questions under her breath while the Ravenclaws played a game of who-can-put-their-hand-up-first.

"You know," said Potter from a little way down the greenhouse, "If you actually answered the questions we might get some points."

"Why do you care about points?" asked Silvanna with a judgmental sneer. Marlene whispered something to Mary and Silvanna sent her scowl that way instead.

"Obviously it's so we can beat Slytherin," chimed in Sirius. She and Lily huffed at the same time, which just put Silvanna in an altogether worse mood.

Next, they had an hour of History of Magic, also with the Ravenclaws. Silvanna was pleasantly surprised to find that their professor was a ghost, and was full to bursting with questions about death, but it wasn't his history he cared about. So her next hour was spent listening to him drone on about Giant Wars starting, while she took pathetic notes.

Lunch was next, and while Silvanna viewed this as the perfect time to find Severus, she was proven sorely wrong. There was an only an hour between the third lesson and the fourth, and so the whole school rushed to lunch at once. Thus, it was impossible to find anyone in that mess.

But, her luck turned at half past one when the bell chimed for double potions with the Slytherins. She headed down alone, rushing to find the right classroom. Maybe if she got there early, she could get a word in with him. She did get there early, but only moments before Potter, Black, Pettigrew and Lupin, who jumped at the chance to have another go at tormenting Severus.

"What's got your wand in a knot, Snivellus?" Potter asked her scowling brother, clearly not realising that was his resting expression.

"Mardy because your girlfriend and your sister ended up in a better house?" added Sirius, taking a step closer to Severus.

"Piss off," said Lily, breaking off from her conversation with Marlene and Mary to go and stand with him.

"Ooooo," came the usual taunt, and Lily's cheeks flushed pink, before turning and talking quickly in a low voice to Severus. Great. Now Lily bloody Evans was there she'd never get her brother to think straight and have a rational conversation.

The door to the classroom swung open and the first-years rushed inside, each finding desks. Silvanna quickly found one by herself at the back of the classroom while Lily and Severus rushed to the front. Mary and Marlene had chosen a desk by the door, and of course the four boys had gone to the back too, but in the other corner. Aside from them there were a handful of other Slytherins, outnumbering the Gryffindors greatly.

Professor Slughorn, the potions professor, began lecturing them on basic potions technique. Silvanna listened, but didn't bother taking notes; it sounded like the sort of thing you just picked up. When he began talking about the cure for boils, she flicked to the correct page in Magical Draughts and Potions and began taking notes on fresh parchment, adding in the tips that Slughorn gave them.

"So pair up!" said Slughorn, clapping his hands together. Silvanna looked around hopefully for someone to work with. Excellent - there was an odd number, which meant she could be left alone. Slughorn noticed this and ambled over, smiling widely. "No partner?" he asked her, and she gave a quick nod. "No matter! Why don't you pair up with these two gentlemen here." Silvanna's heart sank, but she trudged over to Lupin and Pettigrew nonetheless. They were smiling at her for some reason.

"You've read the textbook, haven't you?" asked Pettigrew as she began measuring ingredients. "So you know what you're doing?"

"It's right there, why don't you look yourself?" she snapped, feeing irritated she had to work with such incompetence. "Never mind, these need chopping." She handed him the dried mandrake leaves. "Be careful to make them even," she added with a scowl, and Pettigrew nodded quickly, succumbing to silence.

"Can I do anything?" asked Lupin, twiddling his wand between his fingers.

"Getting the water to a simmer would be nice," said Silvanna, careful eyeing the scales as she added more snail's shells.

"The book says to a boil," said Lupin, frowning at the instructions.

"Read further down," she told him, snatching the rugged mandrake leaves from Pettigrew and shoving a pestle and mortar towards him instead.

"Once your cauldron is appropriately heated-" he read, frowning further.

"Further down," said Silvanna with a sigh, lighting the cauldron herself.

"Oh," said Lupin, finally nodding. "If the potion curdles, your heat was too high earlier on."

"Bingo," said Silvanna, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Half an hour later and they had - by some miracle - what she would consider a perfectly adequate potion. Slughorn agreed, it seemed, because he gave them two points each, to Potter's delight. As if to put a damper on the boy's mood, Slughorn also then awarded Severus and Lily with the same.

The bell rang and the class groaned at the thought of being late out. Silvanna sent Pettigrew to the sink and Lupin to the bin, hastily wiping down their desk before scurrying out the door, second only to Severus. "Get back here!" she hissed after him, following him deeper into the dungeons. "I need to talk to you!"

"I have nothing to say to you," he growled over his shoulder.

"Pathetic," spat Silvanna. He stopped in his tracks glaring at her. He raised his eyebrows, daring her to speak again. "You're being pathetic."

"I'm pathetic?" he challenged. "Who's the one cozying up to the stupid Gryffindors?"

"Oh, says you, with the way you stalk Lily day and night," retorted Silvanna, putting on her best sneer. "What, is your telescope pointed at our window now?"

His face went a furious red. He dug in his bag, and Silvanna thought he might be searching for his wand, but instead he pulled out a crumpled envelope. "Mum wrote to us," he said, shoving it into her hand. And then he turned on his heel and stormed off down the corridor.