Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Seventy-Two

deary me :)

Somehow - and Silvanna wasn't sure how - this summer was passing slower than ever. She was hardly spending any time at home, only using it as a pit stop between the Princes, work, the field, and spending time with Jim. Lily, thank Merlin, had taken her advice, and Silvanna hadn't seen her since their last conversation. And Severus was still holed up in his room. She remembered the dark books he had in there, and wondered if that's what he'd been studying. She hoped not.

Speaking of dark books, the Princes were starting to show some questionable taste. It had started out as Herbology, a bit of History, some good duelling spells. But the Herbology was slowly being drawn out, the History turning from giant wars to the effects of muggles on wizards. Subtle stuff, but bigoted all the same. She wasn't even sure if half of it was true - how could they destroy an entire city with one bomb? Didn't make sense. And then there was the duelling spells - she made sure to take careful notes of their counter-curses too, but she was never tested on them.

By the end of the fourth week, Silvanna was looping around the hall in Whitechapel House, with Colette keeping a very close eye on her. Like with the invisibility, it was like a switch had been flicked in her magic, and she suddenly felt an overwhelming amount of control over it once she'd fully mastered her ability. She was sent home that week with promises to practice duelling while flying the next week.

She was still seeing Jim whenever she could too. They didn't really talk as much anymore. And they'd gone way further than Silvanna had with Daniel. It was a bit of an odd one for Silvanna, and she didn't really like to think about it too much, especially when they were doing it. It all just seemed a bit weird and gross to her, but she reminded herself that everyone her age was doing it, and it was perfectly normal. Probably just not for her, she was just a bit weird. And that was OK.

When Silvanna spent her the seventh weekend at the Princes, Colette spent almost all of Saturday duelling while flying with Silvanna, and Evelyn watched on in approval when Silvanna combined it with her invisibility. "It's coming along nicely," she said, before heading off to do whatever she usually did all day.

She sat and had dinner that evening with her cousins, listening to Nola talk about a book she was reading, and politely answering any and all questions about what Hogwarts was like.

"Have you really been to Brazil?" asked Maude, looking at her excitedly.

"Mm-hm," said Silvanna through a mouthful of beef. "And Russia."

"Well we've been to Russia," said Nola. "We go all over the world." Snotty rich kids. She sounds like James.

"Oh," said Silvanna. "That's nice." She turned up the table where Colette and Edith were whispering away. "Am I alright to use the loo?"

"Of course," said Colette with a smile. "You don't need to ask." Silvanna just smiled and trotted out the room to the nearest toilet. Honestly, there were about twenty in the house, it was ridiculous.

She passed Quintin's study as she went, and was surprised to hear voices coming from inside. Silvanna didn't know why, but she'd just assumed Evelyn and Floyd were off doing their own thing. It had never occurred to her that they'd all be together. Mentally scolding herself, but somewhat uncaring, she stopped to have a listen.

"...their mother's a legillimens, the blood's not completely bare," came her Uncle Floyd's voice. Were they talking about her mum? "And they claim to have a history of parcelmouths." Apparently not.

"My concern," came Evelyn's voice, "Is that they aren't completely devoid of money. They're incredibly rich in property, and the main motivator for marrying a Prince is the sum we pay. Why would they want that?" Who was getting married?

"He's about her age, they probably know each other," said Quintin.

"All the better," said Floyd. "We'll struggle to marry her off, after the upbringing she's had." Wait. Were they talking about her?

"I'm not sure this is the right one though, Floyd," reasoned Evelyn. "I've heard rumours that their son is going off the rails."

"Rumours are rumours, Evelyn," said Quintin, "The fact remains that the Black heir has shown an interest in our family. Their blood is sure to be rich with gifts, and if not it's a weighty leverage for future betrothals."

Oh my God, they're talking about me. They're talking about Sirius. They want me to marry Sirius, holy shit, no, no, no-!

"That is true," agreed Evelyn, "Do you think they could get a betrothal before she goes back in September?"

"According to the letter they could do it next weekend," said Floyd.

"And we wouldn't have to tell her until the day-of," said Evelyn, sounding deep in thought. Silvanna had had enough. She didn't have much in her room anyway, and she carried her wand everywhere.

She sprinted through the house, hair flying, blood boiling, boots thudding on the solid, wood floor. She precariously grabbed a handful of floo powder and chucked it into the crackling fire in the hallway.

"Silvanna-?" called Colette's voice from the dining room. Without hesitation, Silvanna stepped through the fireplace and whirled home, head throbbing and heart pounding.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fucking shit bollocks. What had she done that for? Dumbledore had said to do whatever they said, no matter what. Should she write to him? Should she go back? No - she couldn't go back; they'd never trust her again if she did that, and they'd definitely want to know why she'd left. And she'd have to marry Sirius. The thought alone was immensely disturbing. And he'd never forgive her if he found out she knew beforehand. No, she'd done the right thing. And she'd have to tell Dumbledore in September anyway, because she didn't have an owl to use.

"Where the fuck 'ave you been?" Fuck. It was a Saturday evening. How could she have forgotten?

"Doesn't matter," Silvanna mumbled, attempting to walk past her dad and go upstairs.

"It fucking does," he snarled. Before she could move any further, he'd thrown his hand around the side of her face and grabbed hold of her neck. If Silvanna could've gasped, she would've. Instead she was left to scratch at his hand, but she knew she wasn't particularly strong.

Her vision clouding with black spots, Silvanna did the only thing she could think of. She turned invisible. In his shock, her dad let go of her, and she doubled over, her head throbbing and swimming and tears shining in her eyes. She massaged her throat, just grateful to be able to breathe again, and turned off her invisibility. "You - you fucking freak!" said her dad, backing away into the kitchen. Silvanna heard the faintest creak upstairs.

Shrugging, she turned away, only to hear a clatter and feel a sharp pain shoot up her arm. There was the clang of metal on the floor, and something hot trickled down her elbow to her wrist. Looking down, Silvanna saw she was covered in crimson, and there was a kitchen knife at her feet. Her dad was scowling at her from the kitchen doorway, so, gripping her arms through the pain, she tumbled up the stairs and into her room.

Silvanna grabbed her oldest, most worn-out jumper, and wrapped her wound up, wincing and gritting her teeth as tears sting her eyes. What was she actually supposed to do now? How had she messed everything up so badly? But she supposed there was nothing left to do except hope for the best.