Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

16 November, 1973 - An Unfortunate Encounter

It was a bleak almost-winter day when Lavinia decided once and for all that she hated - flat out, irrevocably hated - the group of Gryffindor boys who had begun calling themselves the Marauders. Ridiculous name for ridiculous people. Perhaps it was just that she'd never seen them torment her friend first hand, or perhaps it was something about the particular sneer on Sirius Black's face, but for some reason, this time it was different than all the others.

They were walking down the corridor after their last class - a depressingly long double Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, that had left Lavinia nearly spitting. The tea pot she had been turning into a tortoise had simply refused to lose it's handle, something the Marauder's had delighted in making comments about whenever McGonagall wasn't listening. She'd already been in a foul mood, what with that awful letter this morning - as if she didn't already know she wasn't good enough - and now she was seething.

Her friends had decided it was a good idea to keep quiet as they left the class. Lavinia, whose anger was usually a cold, crystalline thing filled with sharp barbs and arched brows, looked liable to explode and none of them were particularly interested in being around when that happened. On the other hand, they knew better than the run from her.

The halls were nearly empty, with most everyone already at dinner, which Lavinia counted a small blessing. The last thing she needed was someone seeing her this angry. Or some stupid little first year getting in her way. Or a group of people crowding the hall. She wasn't in the mood for people. She wanted to curl up in bed, or maybe break something.

Today was not her lucky day however, and as she reached the top of the first set of steps down towards the entrance hall, she heard a yelp behind her. Whirling, she found Severus suspended in the air by one leg, held there by James Potter's wand as the Gryffindor boy and his cronies laughed. Well - two of them laughed. As ever, Remus Lupin was lurking slightly behind, looking rather unsure about the whole thing.

Severus was red as a beet, no doubt from a combination of embarrassment and blood rushing to his head as he writhed upside down, fighting in vain against whatever spell Potter had used.

Lavinia's rage careened towards a breaking point.

"Put him down, Potter," she growled.

"Or what, Selwyn?" he retorted. "You'll transfigure me into a turtle? Oh wait." He smirked.

Lavinia's scowl deepened. "Don't try me, Potter," she hissed, shaking slightly.

"Ooh look little miss perfect is threatening us." It was Black this time. "I'm simply shaking in my boots." Sarcasm dripped off his words like honey off a beehive. Behind him, several Gryffindors, who had also taken this direction out of class, laughed.

Lavinia was shaking. Her hand, now gripping her wand in her pocket shuddered so much she wasn't sure she'd be able to aim properly. She felt like crying and she hated herself for it. She wanted her cold rage back. She wanted to be crisp and cool and clever and right now she felt like a mass.

Too much. It was all too much. She wished she'd waited to open her letter. She wished she'd been smart enough to read it before bed, not before classes. That alone had been enough to upset her, silly as it seemed. And now with this. She fought herself, desperate to keep her eyes dry.

"Aw," Sirius was now saying. "Are you going to cry, Selwyn?" The false pity in her voice made her want to punch him. He laughed again. "So much for being such a model Slytherin then." The condemnation in his tone sounded so like her mother. You're supposed to be a perfect Slytherin - a perfect Selwyn. Stop disappointing me. At least with Black, she knew what she'd done to piss him off. Her mother was a bit more of a mystery, though she had her suspicions and Emma Vanity was going to get a very thorough talking to about keeping her mouth shut when told to do so.