Chapter Text
Regulus hadn't meant to spend so much time talking with Professor Slughorn after class. But, the portly man had been very insistent that Regulus tell him how his mother, father, uncle, and Bellatrix were doing before inviting him to the end of the year Slug Club party. Why he wanted him to come was beyond Regulus, he was mediocre when it came to Potions - even with Severus's help.
Regulus was about average in everything. He wasn't wicked smart like Severus, quick like Quirinus or even especially motivated compared to other Ravenclaws who didn't ooze natural smarts. Regulus was just...normal.
Brooding on this, he hardly paid his surroundings any mind as he floated through the rather barren dungeon corridors. It was as he sped down his normal path that he was mowed over by two larger bodies.
"Ah!" He screeched in shock.
One person stayed on top of him and the other started pulling at his satchel. Bucking, Regulus yelled, "Get off me! What in merlin's name are you doing?!"
The body on top of him ignored Regulus in favor of helping his accomplice in rooting through his bag. The boy didn't know what they could be looking for, he didn't have anything besides his potions books, notes and a letter to his cousin Bellatrix. She'd written him to see how Ravenclaw's first years were doing, if Sirius was making a shame of himself, how 'cissa was doing in courting Lucius and to ask if he'd like to come with her and her new husband on a trip to France over the summer.
But none of that was really all that interesting or important to anyone besides himself.
He attempted to twist his head to see who it was pinning him, but the hand that had been resting on top of his skull pressed down hard when they realized what he was doing. Hissing, Regulus yelled loudly, "Help! Help!"
Another hand slapped itself over his mouth and Regulus began to wonder what they'd do when they finished. They wouldn't….they couldn't kill him, could they? No, of course not, but…
The boy began to thrash and kick. More fearful of what was to come than what was occurring at the moment.
Suddenly, the person atop him was knocked ajar and he finally knew who'd tackled him thanks to the cry of his rescuer.
"What the bloody hell, Potter!"
Potter. Sitting up, he saw a stricken looking Pettigrew watching as his friend rolled around on the ground with Severus. How these two always seemed to find each other, Regulus just didn't know. Maybe Snape'd put a tracking spell on Potter?
Anything seemed possible to Regulus as he watched them grapple on the floor together.
"Bugger," James snarled, "Off!" As he tossed Severus away from himself with some considerable effort.
Tumbling away, Severus managed to catch himself and getting in a crouch, he leapt back on James with a shout of, "No!"
Turning to the quivering Pettigrew, Regulus snatched his letter out of the Gryffindor's paws and snapped, "That's mine!" And proceeded to clean up the rest of his things as the two other boys continued to jab and kick one another.
Once done with his own task, the boy looked to Pettigrew and said, "You might want to get a professor to stop them. I have to be getting to my Flying class in-" he checked his watched and scowled. "Now," he sighed.
Eye big and bugging, the chubby Gryffindor whined, "But I can't get one! That would only make James mad at me!"
"Fine!" Regulus snapped, heading back to Slughorn's class. "I'll tell Professor Slughorn his precious prodigy and Potter are brawling in the hall and it's made me late for flying! I'm sure he'll come running!"
However, by some divine intervention, Regulus only walked a few steps before he saw the man coming his way. Flagging the rotund man down, the boy shouted, "Sir! Sir! We need your help over here!"
Looking at Regulus with curious eyes, Slughorn approached only for his face to take on a comical look of horror as he used his wand to separate Potter and Severus. "Boys!" He yelled, "What in merlin's name do you think you're doing?!"
"He attacked me!" James roared in pure anger.
Sending the other the nastiest glare Regulus was sure he'd ever seen, Severus spat, "I only shoved you off Regulus, you're the one who turned it into a real fight!"
A tide of red rising up on Slughorn's neck, the man hissed, "I give little care to who started it. I'm ashamed of you both! Twenty points from both Gryffindor and Ravenclaw! I expect you both to report to your Heads of Houses this evening for detention as I cannot host it myself today." Waving his hand in dismissal, Slughorn stood to watch Severus and Potter scatter for wherever they were supposed to be.
Turning to him, Slughorn asked, "Do you need anything else, Mister Black?"
"A late pass?" Regulus inquired hopefully. "When they were fighting, I couldn't get past and now I'm late for Flying."
Unhappily, after dinner, Severus dragged himself away from his group of fellow Ravenclaws as they started back for their common room.
"Where are you going, Severus?" Charity questioned with an anxious dip between her brows.
Looking away from the girl, he answered, "I have to see Flitwick."
He did his best ignore the murmur that rose up from his peers and only addressed Mark when he snapped in pure exasperation, "Do you have detention again!?"
"Yes," he replied with a sneer. "And I lost us twenty-five points today. Twenty for fighting Potter and another five for being too loud in the library. Is there anything else you need to know?"
Mark, Charity and the last member of their group, Marlene shared a look and with several quick gesture appointed their spokesman (or woman, rather,) Charity said, "We worry about you, you know? You end up in detention an awful lot."
Scoffing, Severus declared darkly, "You haven't seen anything yet." And with no further interest in his fellow Ravenclaws, bade them goodbye with a silent showing of his back as he went off to Flitwick's office.
Twisting her head around to look at her two friends, Charity brought a knuckle to gnaw on to her mouth and asked, "What do you think he means by that? We only have two weeks of school left!"
Flipping a blond lock, Marlene offered in jest, "Maybe he's planning on getting summer detention so he can stay here the whole time and make potions."
"You know what?" Mark murmured, the girls said nothing, but waited with patient interest for the boy to finish. "I think somebody should try and tail him the rest of the school year and make sure he doesn't make a mess of things. Do you guys realize if we figure out something particularly clever to do, we could actually win the House Cup? That is, if Severus doesn't lose us anymore points. We're only sixty off from beating Hufflepuff, after all."
Charity's brown eyes brighten with fret, "Oh-oh, we couldn't! He'd be terribly upset with us..."
"Who cares if he's upset about it! He never cares if we're upset about him losing us points!" Mark argued hotly.
Marlene coolly stepped between the hot-headed boy and simpering girl and smiled. "Who's to say he has to know we're tailing him, Charity? And Mark, why should he care? He's better friends with Gryffindors than he's with us. I don't think he's ever developed an appreciation for the houses like we have."
"It's that Evans girl's fault - Black's too," Mark grumbled.
Charity, who actually quite liked Lily, stamped her foot and wagged a finger in the boy's face. "I like Lily!"
"So do I, actually," Marlene mused. "And on top of that, Mark, I wouldn't try to blame her for anything ever because she and Severus both live with her parents. If you say something like that and hurt their relationship, it's going to be up to you to find him a new family to live with," she told him quite smartly.
Ears a bright pink, the boy looked away and made the girls grin. Patting his back, Charity told him kindly, "You know, Mark, I think you're plan about having somebody keep an eye on him isn't such a bad idea anymore..."
This made him perk up and looking out through his fringe, he asked with some hesitancy, "Really?"
"Yeah, really," Marlene grinned back. "Let's get the others and talk about it as a group," she declared, taking lead.
Smiling, Mark came around as they all headed off with their mission in mind.
Trudging through Flitwick's door, the small man only glanced at him before mutely pointing to a corner where a table with a Dictionary and parchment rested. Scowling, Severus went. Sitting down, he flipped it over onto its front and thumbed through to somewhere toward the end of W. He didn't actually care so much where he left off so much as he cared about finishing the book altogether at this point.
Flitwick had joked last time after he completed the English Dictionary he'd start him on the Latin one he had. Severus, actually, wanted to take a look at that one. It would be highly useful in building spells and understanding how to manipulate and change ones that existed to fit his needs. Not like...well, who cared what the definition of worthless was?
Severus knew that one already.
It was about halfway through his session that Flitwick's voice broke the silence, "What did you do this time Mister Snape?"
Pausing in his work, Severus asked, "Do you actually care?"
"Are you being smart?" The professor demanded with some true irritation.
Shifting around in his seat, the boy sneered and told the man, "Why, on earth, would I do that? Do you think I like coming here every few days to write out words and definitions from an English Dictionary?"
Smirking, the little man piped, "I have been wondering, seeing as your frequency must imply something."
"Yeah, it implies Potter's an arse," Severus grumbled as he was unwilling to play along and use his head of house's good mood to his advantage.
The humor fell away and the professor slumped forward. "Why must you always fight? You seem like a highly intelligent boy, surely you can see the benefit in bowing out."
Crossing his arms, Severus could not hide his disgust. "Bow out? Why in merlin's name would I let him think I am scared? Sir, I don't know if you've forgotten or if you've never known this, but if you turn away from a fight, people will call you weak and worthless and every other name in the book to imply how much more beneath them you are! I will not stand to be called a worthless weakling who deserves no better than to be under someone's boot! I will not!"
"I-" but Flitwick closed his mouth and shook his head. "You are so young," he murmured more to himself than Severus.
This vexed the boy and he demanded, "What's that supposed to mean!?"
"Severus, you may leave if you wish. Just-" he paused and seemed to be thinking of something say, "Just come see me next fall and tell me another option you could pick besides fighting back when someone confronts you and wants to get physical."
This confused the boy a great deal, but he agreed - anything was better than spending the next two hours here writing out words and definitions. "Yes, professor," and with that, he left for his dorm.
Pondering the spot that Severus just occupied, Flitwick wondered what the boy would tell him next fall. He didn't think turning the other cheek would be his answer given how disgusted he'd been by the idea when he brought it up.