Chapter Text
PART I
Chapter 1
Bookworms
It was autumn - Hogwarts was surrounded by blazing clusters of orange and yellow leaves. The air was mild and the sky was clear, but as the evening wore on, the air cooled enough for the students to put on their winter clothes. The large chimneys filled with light and crackling.
The only place that wasn't heated was the school library; although every precaution had been taken to prevent fire, a fire could be so catastrophic that the risk was never taken. These books were no laughing matter.
The fourth year who was most often seen there didn't joke about them either. In fact, he almost never joked, at least not happily.
He was serious.
He walked, arms full of books, through the shelves of the library, dark and silent, his uniform marked with the heraldry of Slytherin. This boy didn't seem to care about his hair: it had been neglected for a long time and hung miserably, greasy, on either side of his sickly face.
On that warm October day, the first in a series of strange scenes that were to change his life, the student's mind was fully occupied with the book on shamanic potions he had just discovered. That is, until he felt his forearms and head hit something hard, and his books fell to the floor with a thud.
"Watch where you're going, SNAPE," a familiar voice hissed.
Severus Snape picked up his books and looked up at the man he had accidentally bumped into. A tall young wizard, who must have been over six feet tall, was staring at him with contempt. His short blond hair fell over his arrogant grey eyes, which shone in the centre of his pale face. The Slytherin robe looked completely different on him.
His tall stature, the fact that he was in his final year and captain of the Quidditch team, none of this had helped Lucius Malfoy's natural smugness. Since the beginning of the year, he had snubbed Severus whenever he saw him, whether in the corridors, the Great Hall, the dormitory or the common room. At least he was aware of his existence, which had not seemed to be the case during his first three years at Hogwarts.
Severus was a good student, surprisingly bright in some subjects, and his reputation among the Salazar clan had begun to grow - slowly, for the boy was not pretentious and not the type to squirm in his chair to give a good answer. He was also known for his coldness and dark mood. Most of the time he walked alone, with a lithe, spider-like gait...
Then he raised his eyebrows. Lucius Malfoy gave a small aristocratic grunt in return, then continued on his way, crushing the roll of parchment his comrade had not had time to pick up. Severus sighed and picked it up, placing his books on a table and trying to put them back together again. But as misfortune never comes alone, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and a lilting voice, unfamiliar this time, reached his easily irritated ears.
"Ah! I've been looking all over for you!"
Severus turned to find a pupil of his age, looking like a character from a little girl's fairy tale, staring at him with a bright smile.
"May I ask to whom I am speaking?" the Slytherin muttered.
An irresistible feeling of disgust washed over him at the sight of those forget-me-not eyes and shiny golden curls.
"Gilderoy Lockhart!" the blond boy said, taking his hand and shaking it. "And you're Severus Snape, aren't you? May I call you Severus?"
"Well... as you wish. Why were you looking for me?"
"I saw you at the banquet... I'm new here, actually... Beauxbatons, my old school had some problems with... anyway. I wanted to say hello, but I didn't get the chance until today."
"Well, hello," Severus said. But I've got Transfiguration tomorrow, so I'm in a bit of a hurry."
"Precisely," Lockhart replied, fixing him with his bluish gaze. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Have you got that homework too?"
"Yes, but more specifically, I have a deal to offer you."
The young Slytherin shivered with annoyance. Whatever this deal was, he already knew he was going to turn it down.
"Actually I know you're a very good student, and you know my reputation, and I thought..."
"Which one?" growled Severus.
"What do you mean by which one?"
"What reputation?"
"Haven't you heard? Strange. You see, Severus..."
Severus twisted his parchment slightly.
"You see, Severus, I am also an excellent student. And since we're both gifted people, I thought we might make... a great team."
His comrade raised an eyebrow.
"We're not from the same house, it would be rather unwelcome, if not completely ridiculous."
"Ridiculous?" exclaimed Lockhart. "What's ridiculous about wanting to improve? Think about it: together we could progress much faster, and I don't give a damn about all this House stuff."
"Not me, sorry," Snape replied.
Without another word, he walked out of the library.
* * *
The next day did not begin happily. Severus Snape had climbed out of his canopy bed to discover in the boys' shared bathroom that his hair had become greasy again during the night. Still lightly asleep after a long night of revising, he had run ice water over his face, unaware that Lucius Malfoy was standing at the sink on the right. He had noticed it when he had looked up: the young man was wetting his hair, his eyes lowered, and the long, light strands of his fringe hanging in front of his rounded eyelids. Lucius had then shifted his strange gaze to his left.
"Do you want a photo, Snape?"
Severus said nothing. Lucius had then taken the small pot of wax which he had placed on the edge of the washbasin and, once his hands had been coated with it, had pulled his hair back. It was not often that Severus had aesthetic thoughts about his classmates, but he had to admit that this hairstyle did not suit him at all. The blond young man washed his hands and sighed, either tired or worried. He quickly dried himself and headed for the dormitory.
"Good luck for the exam," he said in a drawl before leaving.
And then he disappeared.
* * *
Two hours later, Professor McGonagall was supervising the Transfiguration test. Her stern gaze peered behind the transparency of thin glasses. Finally, she called Severus.
Under her stern gaze, Severus Snape passed every exercise with flying colours, achieving the highest mark he had ever achieved in a Transfiguration test. He even beat James Potter and his friends, scoring twenty points for his house, and was warmly congratulated by his classmates, who patted him on the back... A small smile spread across his face and he couldn't help it.
"It's always like that in Potter's face!" exclaimed Walden Macnair.
"Look at Black's..." another muttered, giggling.
Severus' eyes sparkled: a little revenge on Gryffindor to make up for a very bad week.
Returning to the Slytherin dungeons was just as pleasant, as the Quidditch team, returning from training, also made a point of cheering him on. Severus Snape had no close friends, but his 'personal style' was not despised; his darkness had given him a sympathetic aura, and many Slytherins admired (or feared?) his talent and mysterious knowledge of the Dark Arts.
"Well done, Snape," Lucius Malfoy said nonchalantly as he walked past him to join the other boys in his group.
Yes, this week has undoubtedly been the best since the start of term.