Lacerta Black -- James Potter --

26

trigger warnings: talk about death/killing

Her first thought when she woke up and didn't feel her head splitting apart from the lights of the candles or her stomach twisting with the urge to vomit was that she had to tell James the good news. Feeling guilty she added the other three Marauders as an afterthought - the girls never found out she was dying due to them being completely enchanted by each other. 

For the first time in almost two months, she had color in her cheeks and her hair didn't stick to her neck with sweat. She threw on a simple, light purple summer dress to go with the early June weather and rushed out to her common room, nearly stumbling into a figure waiting by the steps of the girls' dormitory.

"Oh," she said, trying not to let her disappointment show. "Severus, what are you doing here?"

"It's the last Hogsmeade weekend before exams so I thought I'd take you on that date," the corner of his mouth tilted upwards. She had to wonder if he had planned it that way.

Nevertheless, she tried to smile at him. "I would love to, but--"

"Great," he gripped her hand and pulled her out of the dungeons towards the Entrance Hall, where students were already leaving to get the most out of their weekend before they were forced to study for exams. Her stomach grumbled at the smell coming from the Great Hall, reminding her that she hadn't been able to hold down a proper meal in quite some time. 

"I was actually going to eat breakfast with Reggie," she dug her heels into the stone of the corridor, not wanting to leave the castle with him without telling someone first. "I'm so hungry I could eat a hippogriff."

"We can eat at the Three Broomsticks," he ignored how uncomfortable she was and continued his journey towards the village with a triumphant grin on his typically sullen face. 

"I don't have any money on me," she tried again. It wasn't a lie either. Lacerta didn't have any money since she left the Black family. Andromeda sent them a small allowance, but they weren't working frequently with Bellatrix hunting the family down, so it was only a galleon or two a month for them to share.

"I have enough for the both of us," he rolled his eyes, clearly unimpressed by her lame attempts at getting out of the date. It didn't take them long for them to reach the pub with his long legs and her half-stumbling behind him. She blushed from embarrassment as he pulled a chair out for her, insisting that he push her in. 

He stalked off to grab them their drinks and a bite to eat as she looked around. Tonya and Lily were at a table in the corner, looking very confused as they shared a butterbeer. 'Snape?' Tonya mouthed with a finger pointed down her throat to mimic vomiting. 

Her face turned a darker shade of red all she could do was shrug as the boy in question returned with two plates of English muffins and various fruits on the side and two butterbeers. Lacerta tried not to drool at the sight, politely waiting for to at least be seated before she dug into her food. 

Neither spoke until she was sure her stomach was going to burst. He tried to take her hand, but she pretended she was fixing her hands. "I wanted to speak with you about something that should be private. Care for a walk?"

"Sure," she sighed. 

He held out his elbow, wanting to look like a proper pureblood couple. She hesitantly took it, allowing him to lead her to a shady area of Hogsmeade with stores that she'd never seen and the only students near them were ones known to practice Dark Arts. 

"Where are we going?" she questioned. 

"I figured that since you know what a slow and painful death feels like you'd want to stay alive during the war," he said it as if he was talking about the sunny weather.