Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Fifty-Five

I had a dream about being in my favourite bookshop last night, but I can't go because I have exams and no money :)

Somehow, everyone made it down to Herbology at nine o'clock, barely keeping their eyes open and looking like they'd all caught some sort of bug. And double Potions that afternoon was a nightmare, especially because the fumes of the calming draught they were brewing were so strong. But despite their suffering, the day was wholly entertaining for Silvanna and Remus.

For one, Marlene, Mary, Sirius, Peter, and James all complained of whopping hangovers, but so far no one had hurled their guts up. Secondly, they mercilessly teased Marlene and Sirius, who kept casting glances to each other but so far hadn't uttered a word to one another. Thirdly, they took immense pride in telling James all about how wonderfully his plan to woo Lily had gone.

The letter that Silvanna wrote to Jim that night was the longest yet, detailing all of the twists and turns of the evening. She turned Lily hexing James into her punching him, but she thought it was just as entertaining.

She had another surprise when Daniel showed up at her table in the library again. He'd found her there on Sunday, and they'd had a lovely afternoon, and then again on Tuesday. Never one to gossip (other than to Jim, who was far away), she kept the details of the Gryffindor get-together a secret, only really talking about the card games they'd played.

"Do you maybe want to go on a walk tomorrow?" he asked, biting a nail nervously.

"I'd love to but I can't," said Silvanna. "I promised Marlene I'd watch her in the match, and they're going to win so she'll want to celebrate. And it's Sirius's birthday, so my presence will obviously be required." He looked disappointed, as though waiting for her to say something else. "Sunday works though," she added.

He cheered up considerably at that. "Love to," he said, departing with a kiss on her cheek and a wink. Silvanna felt her face blush furiously as she bent over her Arithmancy questions.

*****

The match against Slytherin was honestly just like any other. Silvanna really could not tell the difference between that one and all other matches she'd seen between the two teams. Peter informed her that Gryffindor had a new captain, a seventh year called Mathew Edervane. He played beater, and that meant there was also a new chaser, a fifth year called Reece Featheringham. Silvanna was certain she wouldn't remember their names for the next match.

Regulus Black caught the snitch, as he always did, but Gryffindor had only lost by ten points, which Peter told her was very good. Overall, Sirius seemed pleased by his outcome, and he was the life and soul of the party later on, that was both for his birthday and the match.

As on Thursday, Firewhiskey was involved. Mary, it seemed, had learned her lesson, and clutched to a butterbeer bottle all night, chattering away with Lily who was taking her firewhiskey steadily. Remus and Silvanna weren't idiots like the rest of them, and drank only as much as their bodies would allow. Silvanna didn't think she wanted to lose control and turn into a different person, like-

"Oh, for fuck's sake," muttered Remus, turning around.

"I'll tell your mum," Silvanna warned with a grin. "What is it?" He nodded his head towards the fire, where Marlene was - Silvanna believed straddling was the term - straddling Sirius. "No shame," she mumbled. "Am I a bad friend if I let her?"

"They'll end up upstairs if you stop them down here," Remus warned. Silvanna bit her cheek and sipped at her firewhiskey. "Oh, Merlin, I'm going to bed." Silvanna thought he was joking, and one look at Lily and Mary confirmed this. James was there too, holding a bunch of lilies out for her. She promptly set them on fire, and Silvanna and Remus burst out laughing.

James stomped over to them, scowling with an identical expression to Lily, although neither of them could see it. "I don't even know what I'm doing wrong," he huffed, sitting down before them.

"Why don't you give her some space?" suggested Silvanna gently. James just scoffed, gulping down some butterbeer. "Where's Peter anyway?" She hadn't seen him since they got back.

"Asleep," said Remus, peering over everyone's heads. "Under a table. He's fine."

"Oh shoot," said James, pointing at the entrance to the boys' staircase. The backs of Sirius and Marlene could be seen disappearing up the stairs. Silvanna and Remus hastily looked away.

"So that's a thing then," she said, draining the last of her drink. "And on that note, I'm going to check on Lily and Mary."

*****

"Is it true about Black and McKinnon?" asked Daniel on their way the next day.

"Hm?" asked Silvanna, who in all honesty was still half-asleep. Thank Merlin for coffee. "Oh, yeah. Not really my place to give details, but they've been snogging each other's faces off for the last three days. And Mary would not stop giggling with her this morning."

They'd reached the lake edge. It was a surprisingly nice day, for November. The air was crisp and cold, and the sky was a pale blue. The ground was firm and dry, and the lake lay before them, unmoved by the still air. "Shall we stop?" suggested Daniel, indicating a patch of grass.

"Yeah, OK," said Silvanna. It was quite concealed by a row of bushes around the lake, and there was hardly anyone about, everyone else feeling it was too cold to be outside for long. Daniel laid his cloak out for them to sit on.

Silvanna was expecting the conversation to continue along the lines of gossip, or maybe the book she'd bought last weekend that she was halfway through. She wasn't expecting, "I really like you, Silvanna."

"Oh," she said, and then, "groovy."

Groovy?

Groovy?

Was that the best she could come up with? She had not discussed this with Marlene and Mary! In fact, she was certain this was normally out of the question. What the actual fuck was she supposed to do? Had she ruined the whole thing? Why was he even saying this? They'd hardly spoken two weeks ago!

But, it seemed Daniel found this endearing, because he leaned forward, taking her face in his hand and kissed her.

It wasn't a kiss like their goodbyes had been - a quick peck followed by blushing and running away. No. This time their lips parted and - OH MERLIN HIS TONGUE WAS IN HER MOUTH. What did she do now?

However, Daniel had thought this part through too, because his hand moved to the back of her head, and he guided her down to lay down. The ground underneath them wasn't very comfortable. And there was a pebble digging into her back.

Regardless, her heart thundered on, tongues intertwining. She honestly had no idea if she was even doing it right, but it felt like how Marlene had looked, so there must be something to it. One of his hands snaked down to rest on her waist, and Silvanna curled up against him for some reason. This seemed to be the right idea, because his kissing became more passionate.

Daniel walked Silvanna all the way back to the portrait hole that afternoon before dinner, and she was in as much of a confused daze as Marlene when she got back to the dorm room.