Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twenty-One

This one's a bit early today folks :)

 The day of the Transfiguration test, Silvanna woke up much earlier than usual, sneaking over to the bed on her left. She pushed her hands through the curtains and shook Marlene's knee. "Marlene!" she hissed in a further attempt to wake her up.

 "What-? I - oh, Marlene?" said a voice that wasn't Marlene's, sounding sleepy.

 "Oh, I'm sorry, Dorcas," Silvanna said quickly. "I didn't realise you were there." She felt her face flush with heat at waking up her dormmate's girlfriend by accident.

 "No that's my bad," grumbled Marlene, finally awake. "Forgot to tell her. Go back to sleep."

 "I'm up now-" Dorcas began.

 "I said," Marlene said, leaning over Dorcas and quieting her. If anything, Silvanna's face grew hotter, and she just stood there in embarrassment. "Go back to sleep."

 "I'll just jump in the shower," said Silvanna, pushing the curtain back in place. She heard Marlene's hum of agreement.

 Thirty minutes later, she and Marlene headed down to the common room, yawning and picking sleep from their eyes as the night sky still twinkled with stars. "It's so early," Marlene complained as she slumped onto a sofa. "It's not even dawn!"

 "It's not dawn because it's January and the sun rises later," said Silvanna, flicking to her Transfiguration notes. She'd pretty much got it down but she was looking for ways to help the others master the spells in two hours.

 "I know that, I'm not an idiot," snapped Marlene, hugging a cushion and closing her eyes.

 "Cheer up, McKinnon," came a voice from the boys stairs, and they both looked up to see Sirius, hair tied back in a loose knot. He looked effortlessly pretty as always. If Silvanna wasn't careful she was going to get herself jinxed in the hallways by the overly-jealous of Hogwarts. "If it's darker for longer that gives you more time to see the best star in the sky!"

 "I dropped astronomy for a reason," Marlene mumbled as he leaned over Silvanna for a kiss, before sitting down next to her.

 They spent an hour and a half revising, before heading down for a last-minute breakfast with the other boys, all of whom had elected to sleep in. By the time they actually got to Transfiguration, she was thinking that sleeping in was a smart idea.

 They were in a different classroom than usual, with a small room off to the side that McGonagall took them into one by one. While they waited, they were tasked with revision or a question sheet. Silvanna agreed to help Marlene some more with the spells they need to be able to do.

 Unfortunately for him, Sirius was one of the first to be taken aside, as McGonagall had elected to use alphabetical order. He sauntered through, the very picture of confidence, although Silvanna suspected it was all an act for the Slytherins. He came back five minutes later, looking cool as a cucumber. "Smashed it," he said to James as he walked past, bumping his fist. He took a seat behind him and next to Silvanna, leaned in and muttered, "smashed it." Silvanna offered up a bright smile, believing him. In all honesty she was tremendously relieved; she didn't want to have to console him, she hated doing that. Seeing out the corner of her eye that her brother was watching, she gave Sirius a quick kiss.

 "Well done," she muttered back.

 "Sirius and Silvanna, please keep that to yourselves," called McGonagall from the front. Silvanna felt her face grow slightly hot, and Sirius just leaned back and rested his hands behind his head. "You have questions to complete, Sirius. Brocklehurst, you're next."

 The hum of conversation returned, and everybody took their turns. Finally, well into the second period, Silvanna's name was called. She followed McGonagall through into what was a small box room with a single desk. On it there were a number of random objects including a pile of cauldron cakes, a pawn from a chess set, and a gnome wandering around a small cage.

 "Now Snape, I'd like for you to produce a cabbage, a ferret, and a bird of your choosing. You may use any of the items on the table if you feel you need them. Bonus points will be given for silent transfiguration and presentation."

 Right. This was slightly harder than anticipated. The obvious one would be the ferret - she needed the feather duster for that. She pointed her wand at it and performed the correct incantation. The handle grew hairs, and the feathers appeared to shrink into thin hairs. Sure enough there was her ferret. McGonagall levitated it and began to inspect it, before scribbling something down on her parchment.

 Next was the bird - that was the conjuring spell, avis. Silvanna flicked her wand, and in a poof of blue feathers appeared a blue bird, twittering excitedly and fluttering about. Silvanna smiled a little before turning her attention to the cauldron cakes, selecting the top one as McGonagall vanished her bird.

 "I was hoping to keep him, Professor," Silvanna joked, smiling as she transfigured her cauldron cake to a cabbage.

 "Very good, Snape," said McGonagall, nodding as she wrote a few more things down. "You may head back through."

 "Thank you," she mumbled before heading out again. Merlin, she hated exams. They always got her riled up.

 As they had lunch, Sirius seemed to notice this. "Cheer up," he mumbled, and she faked a smile. "Nothing we can do now." His eyes flicked to over her shoulder where Lily was sat. "Except maybe I could cheer you up tonight?" He grinned, and she felt Lily shift to speak to Remus.

 "I'd like that," she said back, just loud enough so Lily might here.

 The bell rang for Potions and they traipsed up to the second floor where Slughorn's lessons were. They set to work, studying the pages of the textbook in pairs, trying to make sense of what was going on in the Veritaserum recipe. They weren't supposed to be able to do it yet ("It's going to be challenging!" Slughorn reminded them as he walked around the room), but that wasn't going to stop her and Lily from trying.

 The water had only just begun to simmer when there was a knock on the door, and a small second-year girl appeared, clutching a scroll bound with a violet ribbon. She shuffled forward and handed it to Slughorn, mumbling something along the lines of, "Professor McGonagall asked..." She didn't pay much notice.

 "Silvanna, my dear," said Slughorn, walking up to the desk. She noticed the scroll was nowhere in sight. "A word outside please?"

 She nodded silently, leaving Lily to take over for now, and followed him out. If it was from McGonagall it probably wasn't good. What if she'd completely failed her exam? Or maybe it was something to do with gobstones? She turned to him as he closed the door.

 "Professor Dumbledore has asked to see you," he said. His face looked slightly grim for some reason. Had she done something wrong? Was someone else dead? No, that wasn't right, else Severus would be here too. "I presume he wants discretion - hence Minerva's involvement. The note said that the password's jelly slugs." She nodded again to show she understood. "Er - if you wouldn't mind popping to my office after dinner as well?" he said, cheering slightly as he did. "Nothing important - just a Potion's opportunity for you."

 "Yes sir, that's fine," she said, wondering why he couldn't just speak to her now.

 "Well, don't keep Professor Dumbledore waiting!" said Slughorn, significantly cheery now. "Off you trot." So she did. Well, she didn't trot, just walked at a normal pace.