6 Turns out I have other friends

"Alright class, it's never good to become too complacent in life so we are going to shake things up today. Everyone is going to be switching partners." Slughorn's voice rang out silencing the chattering crowd of students. I knew it was going to happen but it still sucks I can't be by her side. I know it was my idea but I can still be salty about it.

I quickly bolted from my seat next to Lily startling her. I had an image to maintain and fleeing like a startled cat was well within that. 

She gave me a baffled look before an understanding look appeared on her face. She then looked away with a huff. It's not exactly that convincing but she does not have the same amount of experience masking her emotions. Hopefully, distance and my own behavior sells our little act.

Once I was a safe distance away from Lily I looked around for a suitable partner. Mulciber and Avery already looked like they were ready to partner up. Not that I would want to team up with those arsholes. I see Potter bee lining towards Lily as if I already did not regret my decision. 

"Hey, Lil now that you don't have a certain someone bothering you. I decided to grace you with my presence." Potter gives Lilly a cheesy smile and I feel my blood pressure spike. That's it I've decided to accelerate a certain plan I was cooking up.

Lily turned towards Potter quickly and threw him a rather fierce glare. One so fiery it even broke Potter's bravado.

"Don't think I'm happy with you James. You still have not apologized for causing all of this." She seethed out the words and I felt my blood pressure lowering substantially. I've only ever seen Lily that angry at me for well obvious reasons. Although her words suggest this was not the first time she brought this up. So maybe she was not as close to him as I feared.

"Come on Lil's you heard what he said. The slimy snake did not deserve your friendship." Potter tries to placate her but she is clearly having none of it. With that, he turns sharply towards me before throwing a fierce look at me. Clearly, he was blaming me for Lily's ire. Which was right so good on him for being capable of thinking for once.

"You think I should be happy about that! That I should be happy that my best friend said that! He may be on my shit list but you also caused this!" Her voice rose in pitch and I honestly thought she was about to deck him. She seems to be unloading all her anger on him as she deems him an acceptable target. I shudder at the thought of that anger being aimed at me.

"Woah, Woah. Okay got it. Sorry. Just calm down." Potter shoots out hastily clearly not meaning it. He then steps back and puts his hands out in a placating gesture. 

"You're still going to need a partner Lil. So how about me?" Potter says with far less bravado. If he actually apologized sincerely and came in with this attitude he might have stood a chance of being her partner. Well if she truly did hate me that is.

"No need I already asked Alice to be my partner before class started." Lily spat out as she reached out towards said brunette who was trying to slink away.

"Right Alice." She looked at Alice with a look that meant business.

"Yup, I said that. 100%." Alice shot out quickly before giving Potter a guilty look.

I would have continued eavesdropping on my favorite red head but I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see who dared touch me. It was Narcissa. She was giving me a concerned look before she spotted what I was staring at.

"Still pinning after her Severus?" She asked out in a tone that lacked any real bite. It was a question that she had asked me thousands of times. So it's not really a question she expected an answer as she clearly already knew.

"We both know the answer to that." I gave her a tired but wry smile. She seemed startled at that.

"Is that some actually humor from you Severus? Keep that up and we might actually make a Wizard out of you." She giggled out sweetly.

I felt myself blush at that. If I was not absolutely obsessed with Lily Narcissa would have also captivated me. She was a picture perfect pureblood princess with all the poise that entailed. While she oozed elegance no one could deny her beauty. She was voluptuous with long hair that seemed to shine even in this dark dungeon. Ironically for someone named Black that she would have such dazzling white hair. All in all if someone told me they found Narcissa repulsive I would question their sanity. Or maybe their humanity as it was not an opinion any human would make.

"Yes, yes poke fun at me all you want. It's not going to change who I am." I gave her a smug look which again seemed to startle her.

"I'm not quite sure about that Severus. It looks to me like you already have changed a fair bit." She gave me a searching look and I flinched away from her. What was wrong with me? I did change but I was smart enough to not flaunt those changes. So why was I falling into her rhyme so easily?

"I guess I was able to look at my position from a new perspective." I looked away from her and glanced at Lily. Lily was still fending off Potter but she seemed to be shooting me a glance every once and a while.

"Yet you are still pinning after her?" Her voice dragged me back in this conversation. Narcissa seemed like she was actually asking this time. As she seemed to be dissecting me with her gaze.

"Always." A single word but one that should show my resolve. She must have seen something in me as she sighed.

"Why don't you go apologize then? I'm sure if she saw the look on your face she would forgive you." That one actually shocked me. I never expected Narcissa of all people to tell me to go apologize. I figured she would have encouraged me to stay away from Lily she clearly never approved of her.

"Oh don't give me that look. I don't think she will return your feelings Severus. But even I can see exactly how much she means to you." She sighed and simply shrugged. With that my mood fell. She was right even if Lily had forgiven me she was not suddenly going to love me. Still, I will do everything in my power to change that.

"I know." Whether it's Lily's feelings or that apologizing is my best option. I knew both of those things. I was just shocked that Narcissa was giving me sound advice.

"Well then you should get on it before she decides to cut all ties to you Severus." Narcissa gives me a tired look before shooing me away. I have to say my own favourability with her is shooting up rapidly.

"I'll give her some space. She better off with out me." I throw every last bit of my bitter feelings for this one. I have to give a reason for why I'm not begging for forgiveness but still being distraught. Luckily enough for me I already had a true reason lined up. Not that I had said reason till twenty minutes ago.

"That's ridiculous Severus. If you want to be by her side then go." She chastised me while giving me a disappointed look. Being a coward is not exactly a shining star to pin on the fridge.

"I hurt her Narcissa. I did it on purpose. I knew exactly what I was doing. She deserves better than that." I spoke softly but I let the self loathing bubbling in my gut dye my words.

"You… You're being a fool Severus. I hope you know that." For once it seems Narcissa is at a loss of words.

"It's alright to be selfish sometimes Severus. To pursue your desires damn the consequences." Her voice held a depth that I was unfamiliar with. She only looked lost as if she was some place else.

"I know. But what if my selfish desire is to see her happy?" Disregarding my own possessiveness that has always been my goal. Since I have accepted my own greedy soul I'll have to make a world where she will be happy by my side. Damn, the fates and destiny if they have a say here.

"You know if you spew out lines like that ever once and a while you would stand a better chance with her." She only shook her head at my perceived silliness. 

"Ha. I'm afraid is a bit late for that." I gave out an empty laugh. Objectively I knew I still had that chance but I can't exactly let that one out could I?

"You." She gives me a long suffering look before sighing.

"Alright be a fool if you want to Severus." She spoke out tiredly.

"So did you have a reason for approaching me Narcissa?" I don't particularly mind her interrupting my eavesdropping. In fact, this whole conversation was actually fairly engaging.

"I almost forgot why I was here. I suppose anyone would be distracted after seeing such a sad puppy." She finished off with a light giggle. 

I don't know if I should be offended or not. The puppy comment implies I was being cute but what man would want to be called cute? Just take the compliment Severus you so rarely get them.

"That reason being?" I'll get straight to the point if she won't

"Well if we have to switch partners I might as well get the best." She huffs and gives me a smug look.

"Not that you have other options considering how long this took." Again another smug look. It only took me a moment to figure out she was right. I can see almost everyone has paired up. 

Lucius was sitting next to Goyle and appeared to be instructing him to not touch anything. Even Potter appeared to have given up on being partners with Lily as he was sitting next to Lupin. Sirius appeared to have drawn the short stick as he was sitting next to Peter but judging from his laughter he was fine with it.

Every where I look I see people paired and ready. Damn, I really spent far too long spying on Lily and talking to Narcissa.

"I'll have you know I have plenty of options. Who would give up a chance of being paired up with me." I spoke out smugly. Anyone in Slytherin would gladly switch for me. Hell, I could even get some of those in Gryffindor if they really cared about their grade.

"Not as many as you think Severus. Not after seeing me next to you. Who would be willing to incur my ire?" She just out smugged me and I'm not even mad. She was one hundred percent right no one in Slytherin would be willing to piss off a Black. The ones in Gryffindor I could win over would also be barred from me. Not that I planned on partnering up with someone else. I actually liked Narcissa. It was just the principle of the matter.

"Well, I suppose I'll just have to take care of you princess." I threw out teasingly. If she was going to poke fun at me she was fair game. Not that I thought my own teasing was in her ball park.

"As you should Severus. As you should." She only flipped her hair as she spoke out plainly. As if everything was as it was supposed to be. 

I can't believe she just did that. What is even more unbelievable is the fact that she pulled it off. What would look ridiculous on any one else turned captivating on her. 

"Of course princess. Leave everything to me and I guarantee perfect results. Not that I doubt you will be capable of doing it yourself." I may have a high opinion of my own skills but I won't disregard her own. She was the one who brew between her and Lucius. Not that she truly enjoyed doing it but she was just better than Lucius. Maybe it was her listening to my own rants on potions.

"Then get to it Severus. We don't have all day." She once again shooed me away. I gave a quick glance at what we were supposed to prepare before scoffing. It was just a calming draught. It looked like the infirmary was really running low on that one. I wonder why?

"It's just a calming draught Narcissa. We might as well have all day. It would literally take me ten minutes to prepare it." I say that as I walk towards the ingredient station. It honestly would take that long if I really tried. Not that I should rush when I could take my time. 

Time passed quickly once I started brewing. Narcissa threw barbs every once and a while but it was honestly rather fun. Lily was always no nonsense when we brewed. She knew I was better so she spent the entire time studying exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it. Self improvement thy name is Lily Evans. Not that I minded the dynamic, it was just nice to experience a new one.

I was bottling out the draught which was perfect. That was never in doubt I made it after all.

"Another perfect potion princess. If we keep this up we might actually make it through the term. I'll just get this over to Professor Slughorn." I joked out as I got up to leave. Narcissa grabbed my arm before I could leave.

"Severus." She spoke out softly as she looked up at me.

"If you need someone to talk to I'm there for you." I've never seen her this serious before. It has always been a rather light atmosphere between us. She was either smug or charming. I suppose my previous state has been rather worrying. 

Even now I'm still shaken up. I may have calmed the storm but some things remain. My self loathing is a capital example. With every action I take towards Lily the worse I feel about it. I'll just have to avoid some of the more scummy tactics I can think of.

"Thank you, Narcissa…That means a lot." I just give her a small smile. I'm not the best at accepting others' care but this time I will. I guess my doubts about her intentions have faded. I suppose this all could be another elaborate play at trapping me. I immediately disregarded that thought. Those types of thoughts only led to Batman levels of paranoia. I'm not exactly ready to form plans to kill all my friends in case they betray me. Not that I had any friends to plot against.

"Good. Now go submit our potion." She let go of my arm and once again shooed me away.

"You know the more you do that the more likely I am to stay if only for my pride." I laughed as I stepped away. 

As I was walking towards Slughorn I passed by Lily. As I was passing she caught sight of me and pouted before huffing and whispering to Alice. Huh her act got a lot better than before. I almost actually believed she was mad at me. Although it looked more like sulking than actual anger but it was much better than before.

I of course, quickened my steps to get as far away from Lily as I could. I was going fast enough that I almost did not notice James trying to trip me. I only gave him a glare which he returned but he did retract his foot. He could not actually do anything too blatant as Slughorn would only ignore so much. Potter may have zero talent in potions but he is the heir of a major pure bloodline so Slugorn does favor him a fair bit. Which again stings but I'm used to it.

I guess the truce between me and Potter has expired. I believe that Lily unloading on Potter has gotten him in a bit of a mood. Which he has decided to take out on me. Which of course, is a perfect plan. The reason Lily is mad is his relentless bullying of me so Potter in all his wisdom decides to do exactly that. Truly a once in a century genius.

Good thing I actually decided to move up a plan. It's going to take a fair amount of skill but we have a free period next so I have time.

I walked toward the professor and dropped off my potions. He looked it over briefly before putting an O next to mine and Narcissa's name.

"Perfect as always Severus." He spoke out jovially.

"How are things between you and Lily? When I was leaving earlier I expected the two of you to have made up. Imagine my surprise when I came back to a completely silent room." I guess Slughorn was trying to give me an opportunity to make it up to Lily. For that, he is no longer below Bins but he is still not my favorite Professor. Not that anyone had a higher ranking he just lost the right to be called my favorite. 

"Ah… She is better off without me sir." I just gave him a sad brittle smile. Hopefully, that's enough for him to get off of my back.

"That's disheartening to hear Severus." He looked at me in confusion before he decided he had done his duty.

"Well if you change your mind I can give you some advice on how to get her to forgive you. Back in the day I used to be a bit of a ladies' man." He laughed out loudly at that. I'm not sure if I actually believe him on that front but I don't care if it is true.

"If I do change my mind I'll make sure to come to you sir." That's obviously not happening. Even if Lily was still mad at me I doubt I would have gone to him for advice.

"Well since you and Miss Black are done you can leave early. Or if you wish you can sit and chat for the rest of the period." Slughorn has always been rather slack with those he likes. Not that I had anything else to do in his classroom now that I was done. 

I have reached a point in potions that the only way to improve was to experiment. Note this was before I gained the ability to sense and control my magic to an unreal degree. Now I'm a monster in potions and a prodigy in everything else. 

I walked back towards Narcissa while taking a route that avoided Potter and Lily. Which in hindsight I should have taken it earlier but I was not thinking then. Once I got back to Narcissa she seemed bored.

"Hey. Slughorn said we can leave early if we want. Or stick around and chat." She seemed interested in the prospect.

"Hope you have a good time. I got to go take care of something." I shoot out as I gather my things. My statement seemed to have thrown her through a loop for some reason.

As I was leaving I swear I heard her murmur dumbass but I must have been hearing things. No way Narcissa the picture perfect princess would say something like that.

I had a trap to set up. I originally wanted to postpone this till I got an invisibility cloak but Potter is being annoying. I walk out to the deserted third floor corridor and make sure my Aura stops singing. I then placed a nifty little idol I enchanted to broadcast my previous Aura at the end of the corridor in one of the many abandoned classrooms. For such a large school we had far too many empty classrooms. I guess the Founders thought the magically capable populace would have increased exponentially.

Not that anyone complains about the giant castle we study in. Who would bitch about such things? Even those who get regularly lost enjoy finding the secrets of the castle. Which there are many. Stupid Potter and his freaking map that allowed him to cheat the system. At least not all of the secrets can be recorded by the map. Places like The Chamber Of Secrets or The Room Of Requirements are both protected by the wards but not monitored by them. I assume there are other locations in this castle that are in similar situations.

I then set up as many traps as I could think of. With my new found magical prowess it was actually not that hard. If Potter and his goon squad do what I think they are going to do they are going to be walking into hell. I then erase my smell and mute any sounds I make as I stand at the front of the corridor under disillusionment.

Since I have learned to sense magic my disillusionment has become perfect. I was no longer just a chameleon now I was truly invisible.

I hope to god I'm right about Potter and I'm not going to be standing here for hours. It only took ten minutes before I felt vindication. I heard Potter's stupid voice coming down the stairs.

As he and his crew were walking past me I could see Lupin smelling the air in confusion. God damn mutt don't ruin this for me.

He and his squad looked down the corridor before looking at each other.

"Hey Peter are you sure Snivellus is down there?" Sirius asked out nervously as he rubbed his wand.

"That's what the map says. You want to check it out." Peter stuttered out as he reached out to hand Sirus the Map.

"I don't like this, I can't smell him there. His trail led there but I can't smell any further." Lupid said warily as something was keeping him on edge.

Damnit wolf boy why you gotta sniff all the god damn time. I really should have figured the lack of a scent is just as jarring. A good lesson for the future.

"Well the map does say he is down there. What do you think Prongs." Sirius chuckles as he folds up the map before giving it back to Peter.

"Snape is probably down there casting his dark magic. He probably erased his smell to make sure no one followed him. This is great if we catch the slimy snake doing something illegal we can get him expelled. Lil's would have to accept the truth about him then." Potter grinned victoriously as he started walking into the corridor. 

Nice job Potter. You should totally walk into the long dark corridor. I can't believe he ignored the implications of his own theory. If I was truly down there doing dark experiments I would have trapped this hallway. Which it one hundred percent was so if he had taken some caution he could have avoided his fate.

"I still don't like this James." Lupin mumbled out as he followed. Lupin may have been the brain of the group but he followed Potter's lead religiously. So even if he offers good advice Potter will ignore it cause he is a dumbass. Truly a dynamic for the ages.

Peter was looking around constantly as if he was seeing imaginary foes every where. Sirius looked far more alert but instead of using his brain he was just following Potter's lead. Sirius really should expect traps considering how much of the Black household is cursed. He knows the ins and outs of how dark families protect their secrets but he still marches forward.

I followed them as silently as I could. I just needed them to take a couple more steps before they were in the center of everything.

"What if this is a trap?" Peter stutters out. God damn it why can't you just be a silent coward. Y'all are so close and now you decided to voice your rightful fear.

"You're just being paranoid Peter. Nothing that slimy snake could do would stop us." Potter spoke out with all of his bravado. Yesss listen to the dumb one. Well, it does not matter anymore as Potter took the last step I needed him to make.

Suddenly Potter was yanked into the air by his ankle and his wand was ripped out of his hands. As that was happening I took a step behind Black and stuned him silently. Lupin was already running towards Potter as Peter fucking sceerched. It took a second but Black's body hit the floor with that Lupin turned around when he heard that. He saw Black body for a second before I blinded him with a Lumos trap so I could get nice and close. 

He was cursing and swiping the air in front of him. Not that it mattered I was close enough. I stunned him too and his body hit the ground. The Rat took in the sight of Potter flailing in the air Black and Lupin on the ground and he made a decision. He ran as he tried to escape the corridor but he fucking tripped. That was not even a trap he just fucking tripped. So I sighed and stunned him too.

I allowed the disillusionment charm to fade as I approached the dangling Potter.

"I'll get you for this Snape! Just you fucking wait!" Potter shouted out in vain. The flailing dumbass was not exactly threatening. 

"I hope you don't think I'm done here Potter." I grinned darkly at him. I can't really do too much to them without being accused of some trumped up charges. So I only stunned the three stooges. Potter on the other hand. Well, there is a reason he is the one hanging by Levicorpus.

"I'm not afraid of you! Do your worst snake!"Potter again shouts out. False bravado to the very end good for you. Or maybe he was trying to get people's attention. In which case good plan Potter I'll give ya an A for effort.

"Don't worry I won't do my worst that would leave far too many scars. No, I'll do your worst." I chuckel darkley as I activate the final trap.

I can see the panic and dread in Potter's eyes but he does not quite know what is going to happen. So as the bubbles start to form in his mouth I can see him relax. He probably thought it was no big deal he used this charm all the time on me. If I could take it surely he could. He was an idiot who had no idea what he was doing to me. As the bubbles started to fill his lungs I could see him grasping at his throat desperately. The dumbass has been effectively drowning me all year. Over and over again he used his new toy to drown me. Everyone was fucking laughing at me as I struggled to breathe. Everyone! Even Lily found it amusing. I fucking hate this place. 

I wish I could carve him into and skin the prick for the torture he has been inflicting on me. Sadly I can't as that would bring the hammer on me. I can only take pleasure in the irony of this punishment.

As Potter starts to desperately flail I can see the panic flicker in his eyes and it's delicious. 

"Don't worry Potter unlike you I know exactly what I'm doing." I smile darkly at him.

"You have exactly four minutes before you might die. Well, give or take a few minutes. So you just got to last those four minutes and I'll release the spell and stun you." I laughed as I flicked my wand out and gave him a visual timer.

I can see my information is not giving any relief. To be fair it was not meant to. You see with drowning he gets to experience that pain and panic the whole time. There is no passing out to avoid the pain. The body will flail and convulse to save it self. So when drowning you are drowning until it's too late. By giving Potter a visual timer the world will feel as if it was slowing down as I gave him something to focus on in his panic. Adding another layer to this torture. 

As the timer counts down I can see him become more and more desperate. Every second must feel like agony. Hopefully, he will learn exactly what kind of dickhead he is. Cause I have been experienced this all the time this year. I doubt he will but hey he might actually become a decent person at the end of this. I doubt it but we can always dream. Maybe he will at least back off. Surly he will not be looking forward to a repeat performance. I will absolutely do this again if the idiots try this again.

Still, all good things have to come to an end as the final seconds tick by I see him flailing about like a dead fish. Three two one. With that, I release the spell and Potter takes a long grasping breathe.

"You fucking monster." Potter wheezed out. Wow, what a fucking hypocrite. Sure I designed this scenario to be especially bad but he has been doing this to me all the time. I for one never knew when he would screw up and accidentally kill me.

"Big words from the prick who did the same thing to me." I say sarcastically.

"Whatever night night night Potter." I flick out my wand and he drops and hits the ground. He managed to brace himself so he did not hit his head. Good for him. I still stun the bitch but good for him.

As all four of them lay at my feet I chuckle again. You should never piss off a Potion Master especially if you find your self in a position where your blood can be harvested. The goon squad is about to have a rather bad month.