Chapter 36: Pandora Moonlight

As he was about to walk out the doors of the Great Hall a flash of dark red appeared in front of Severus.

And it was then that a part of him couldn't help the difficulty in breathing, nor the sudden pounding of his heart.

'Lily...' thought Severus with a frown as he saw the beautiful young woman in front of him.

Her hair fell over her shoulders like dark red silk.

Her eyes were so unique, a bright, vivid green that they attracted anyone who saw them as if they were a hypnotic spell, even Severus felt that looking too long into those eyes could be his ruin.

He also noticed that behind her were her friends along with their boyfriends and his precious 'cousins'.

She was smiling while talking to her friends until her gaze and his met.

When their gazes met, everyone was silent at that moment, not knowing what would happen.

Some looked at Severus with annoyance, some with intrigue, and some with concern.

Severus didn't bother to worry about them, but he noticed that now Lily didn't look away from him as she used to do when they crossed paths.

No...

She even seemed to want to talk to him.

But Severus didn't care about this, the last thing he wanted was to get close to Evans, he hated feeling like he was slightly losing control of his body and his emotions.

Snape was too weak in front of her...

But Severus no.

Slightly annoyed by his body's unconscious reaction to being in front of Lily, Severus decided to take out some of his irritation on someone else.

And who better than his two "cousins".

Ignoring Lily, Severus continued walking and passed her then looked at Draco and Hermione who were behind her.

They were both looking at him with concern and even slight fear.

"Oh, Draco, Hermione, it's good to see you, don't you forget our practices," Severus said lightly and without waiting for a reply from them he continued walking to his room.

But before he left he caught a glimpse of the surprised faces of Lily's friends and their boyfriends, which made him smile a little amused.

'It looks like the news that I'm a Prince hasn't left Slytherin yet...'

'Well, it wouldn't take them long to find out anyway, I just did them the favour of knowing ahead of time' thought Severus and he couldn't deny that he had a huge inner smile.

~~~~~~~

Today Draco, Hermione, and Lily had gotten up quite late.

This was because the entire sixth year had stayed up late into the night celebrating the two Prince's entry into Gryffindor.

Draco and Hermione as the ones involved couldn't just go to sleep and Lily felt bad about leaving them alone and going to her bed, so the three of them spent the whole night celebrating with the rest of their mates.

Of course, the marauders were the ones who started the whole celebration.

To Lily's surprise when the others in Gryffindor complimented Potter and Black for their prank against the Slytherin prefects, they didn't take credit for it.

She had expected them to, but she supposed they were smart enough to know that she wouldn't forgive them so easily for breaking their part of the deal.

It wasn't that Lily minded Slytherin prefects who tended to bully and take points for no coherent reason from others, but it bothered her to know that they had made a deal and didn't keep it.

But what could she tell them if they wouldn't admit it and she had no proof, of course... it was pretty obvious that it was them but that didn't matter.

Although, Lily thought about reprimanding them and saying a few things to them despite this...

But seeing how happy everyone in Gryffindors were after someone finally gave the arrogant Slytherin prefects their deserved punishment she didn't have the heart to do it.

Things in the magical world were already very tense and Gryffindor had to be united, the Order of the Phoenix had made it clear to them that they had to support each other at Hogwarts to keep each other's spirits up.

And not to succumb to the fear that the Dark Lord and his followers were causing.

The Dark Lord may not have been able to enter Hogwarts to intimidate and frighten the little wizards, but he had been clever and had spread fear at Hogwarts with the help of the children of his death eaters.

And Hogwarts had to be a place where the little wizards could feel safe and where their families who were fighting the Dark Lord could be at peace.

But the Slytherins wouldn't let that happen and although it was foolish of the marauders to mess with them, it was also a change of air for everyone at Hogwarts.

Lily might be angry with them, but she also knew that when the Slytherin prefects found out it was them, they would have enough trouble dealing with the vengeful Slytherin.

But putting that aside, today wasn't so bad even though they woke up late, at least they would get something to eat before their first class.

As Lily, Hermione, Draco, and the rest of their group approached the Great Hall a person suddenly appeared in front of them and it was none other than Severus.

It came as a surprise to everyone at this sudden encounter, they all stood in silence not knowing what to say or do.

Lily could only stare at Severus lost in thought.

She even saw in his cold black eyes that amorous look that he always gave her when they saw each other, but unlike other times that look in his eyes was only momentary as he instantly frowned and looked very annoyed.

But he didn't say anything...

No...

He ignored her and walked past her without even giving her a second glance.

But to Lily's surprise, he stood for a few moments in front of Hermione and Draco who were quite tense.

Severus stared at them and said: "Oh, Draco, Hermione, it's good to see you, don't you forget our practices".

This caught the attention of not only Lily but everyone else.

'Do they know each other?'

'How did they meet?'

'Practicing what?'

It was all so confusing.

Hermione and Draco were so nervous they didn't quite know what to do, they hadn't expected things to go this way.

And Severus had sure played them very well.

But they were both grateful enough that he hadn't reacted much worse.

Draco sighed in relief at the thought that Severus was no longer interested in Lily, which was very calming.

But Hermione noticed just as Lily did Severus' tiny moment of weakness, she saw Severus' first reaction and knew that he still cared more than he wanted to admit.

He may have changed a lot, but there were some things even he couldn't control, and the heart was one of them.

When Severus left, all eyes that were on him shifted to Hermione and Draco.

And they knew that this was going to be a long day for both of them, especially seeing the look that Lily was giving them...

They could only sigh and start to tell their story as Severus' "distant cousins".

~~~~~~~

After Severus parted from Lily, her group, and his cousins, Severus had already prepared everything for his first class so he didn't waste any time and headed to the classroom.

When he got to the classroom he noticed that his fellow Slytherin students had not yet arrived and there didn't seem to be any other students either.

It was then that he noticed that Snape had a habit of arriving several minutes early everywhere he went.

He could only sigh at this and be more careful from now on so that he wouldn't always be so early, though it wasn't a bother as he could read in peace.

A few minutes later some Ravenclaws started to arrive.

Severus recognised them.

Pius Thicknesse, Logan Fancourt, Erin Hillard, Irin Karasu, Celia Burrow, Pandora Moonlight, and Amelia Bones.

All from noble magical families who supported the Ministry of Magic.

"Severus, early as usual!" greeted Pandora lightly as she sat down next to him, not caring about the looks her friends were giving her for being with a Slytherin.

Severus even managed to hear the whispers of her friends:

"I don't understand how she can be so friendly with the Slytherins"

"Leave her alone, you know how she is."

"Wait, she said Severus?"

"Yeah..., she must have got confused, don't make a big deal out of it"

Severus just shook his head in amusement as he watched them sit down without giving the matter much thought.

"So, what's with the change?" asked Pandora staring at him with intrigue in her eyes.

The girl sitting next to him had long, unkempt blonde hair down to her waist, very light eyebrows, and bulging silver eyes, which gave her a permanently surprised expression.

Pandora had an unmistakable air of a crackpot. Perhaps it contributed to this that she had placed her magic wand behind her right ear, or that she wore a necklace made of different animal teeth, or that her eyes seemed to be "dreamily distracted" even though she was looking at someone.

"Nothing important, I just started taking care of myself and training," Severus said lightly, there was no point in being cold to her, Snape may have been a jerk to her, but Pandora was actually quite nice despite her weirdness.

But to Severus who knew beings from a whole galaxy, it was nothing new for someone who acted weird and unique.

"Huh?..." she stared at him strangely.

"Is something wrong?" asked Severus when he saw the look on her face.

"I didn't mean a physical change," Pandora commented with a sweet smile but there was a glint of mystery in her eyes.

Severus frowned a little confused by her question, although he must have assumed it would be like that, she was always talking about strange things.

"I don't know what you mean," Severus replied without giving it any thought.

"Well..., you've changed... or maybe just a part of you changed..." she started to say.

This made Severus's eyes widen slightly in surprise and he looked at her in curiosity.

'How could she even notice that?' he wondered in complete confusion.

"Hmm, pity... I wish I could look at you and investigate you further..." Pandora commented with a cute pout and then just smiled again as if nothing had happened.

Severus was sure that Pandora knew something, he didn't know how, but she knew something.

It wasn't a coincidence that she said those words by random chance, others would say that she was a bit crazy and that he shouldn't give her any thought...

But he could tell now that there was something in her gaze that told him she knew something that should be impossible for anyone but him to know.

But Severus didn't have time to ask that question because after a while the rest of the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students began to arrive and he didn't want to talk about it with everyone else present.

So he went on to his first class of the day...

Potions, with his un-favorite professor...

Horace Slughorn.

Severus had only hoped to finish the class quickly so that he could speak privately with Pandora.

But at the end of the class, he wasn't so lucky, as the professor, like every year, tried to convince him to go to his Club.

Severus was in such a hurry to leave the class that he told him that he would think about it so that he wouldn't have to listen to him talk.

Once he left the class, Pandora had already gone, but he saw that Amelia Bones was still there and she might know where her classmate was.

So Severus approached her to ask about Pandora.