All Hallow\'s Eve

DISCLAIMER: Not mine, never will be. All HP characters belong to JK and Warner Brothers, etc. Thanks to the Maker for being allowed to play with her characters.


Written for Red Reign\'s October 2005 Challenge.


This fic takes place during the Marauder\'s Fifth Year at Hogwarts.


Beta\'d by Evil Auntie Snape.

Saturday, 1 November, 1975


~~~~~~~THREE~~~~~THE COLD LIGHT OF MORNING~~~~~~

The dim corridors were thankfully devoid of other students as Snape made his way down to the Dungeons. He could hear faint echoes of voices from other parts of the Castle wafting down to him. His euphoric mood was evaporating rapidly. It had only been minutes since he had left Potter, and the Slytherin was already aching to be near him again. Snape had nearly reached the hidden entrance to the Slytherin common room when The Fat Friar and The Bloody Baron swooped around a corner, deep in conversation. The Baron favored Snape with a tiny nod of acknowledgement as he floated past. A second later, the two ghosts abruptly turned and disappeared directly through the thick stone. Snape took a few more steps before stopping at a seemingly random section of wall.


\"Aconitum Napellus.\"


A portion of the rough stone wavered and then dissolved, revealing a large opening. After Snape passed through the portal, the wall reverted to its solid state. The Slytherin common room was windowless and quite large. Directly opposite the entrance hung a huge banner depicting the Slytherin house crest. The green eyes of the banner\'s enormous silver snake sparkled menacingly in the dim light. Huge columns flanked the banner. The walls on either side of the columns pulsed and flickered with thin threads of green energy. The constantly moving fingers of light smoothly flowed and ebbed across the surface of the two sections of wall, casting an unearthly greenish tint upon the space.


An archway to the right led off to the student dormitories. A gigantic fireplace filled most of the other wall. A relatively small fire burned low in the hearth, reluctantly throwing off some meager flickerings of light. A few large, black leather couches and a several high, wing-backed chairs filled the floor space. A scattering of small tables and a few sideboards completed the furnishings. The large room was awash in deep shadow. All of the wall torches were out. The gigantic, black iron chandelier was also dark. Snape moved easily through the darkened common room, quickly gliding down the three wide steps into the sunken seating area. Threading his way through the jumble of furniture, he was nearly to the wide archway when a loud thud caused Snape to whirl about in surprise.


A dark form was lifting itself from the floor. It wobbled a moment before falling back into one of the couches with a painful grunt.


\"Lumos!\"


The light from Snape\'s wand illuminated a short and rather stout dark-haired Slytherin who was clearly inebriated. Most of his Merlin costume was missing. His robe was pooled about his ankles. All he was wearing were his fake beard and underwear. He blinked repeatedly at the source of the intrusive light.


\"Bloody hell, put that out! Trying to get some sleep here!\"


Shaking his head, the nearly naked Merlin moaned a bit before stretching out on the leather sofa. Pulling his tattered robe over him, he curled up and immediately began snoring loudly. By his wand light, Snape could make out a couple of other expired revelers strewn about the common room in various uncomfortable positions.


\"Nox.\"


Sighing deeply, Snape moved through the arch leading to the dormitories. He strode as quickly as he could towards his chamber. At the very end of the long hallway, Snape murmured the incantation that dropped the wards guarding his door. Once inside, he reset them as he ignited the lamp on his bedside table. He was fortunate that no one else wanted the chamber at the end of the hall. The fact that not one of his housemates wished to room with him pleased Snape all the more. He enjoyed his solitude.


The room was large, but irregularly shaped. One of the lavs was directly above, causing the chamber to be somewhat damp. Fully one-third of the windowless room was bisected by one of the main stairwells. Snape used the wasted space underneath it for storing his extensive library of rare and obscure Potions texts and supplies. There was just enough room for a modest workbench, his bed, desk, and a pair of moth-eaten old armchairs. Another bonus of \'the room under the stairs\' was that it featured a small and extremely leaky old sink, which was perfect for Snape\'s potions work. A tiny wood stove provided heat when needed.


Dropping the destroyed costume cloak on his bed, Snape walked over to his small desk and sat down tiredly. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he then lit his desk lamp and opened his journal. His quill began to scratch across the parchment at great speed. He was anxious to record the events of the evening while they were still fresh in his mind. Glancing down at Potter\'s boxers, he grinned crookedly, once again writing furiously.


\"Ah, well, how are you now, Selene?\"


Snape\'s rather large, jet black rat had darted out from under his bed. She was scurrying about his feet squeaking madly, clearly starved for attention. Scooping her up, Snape gently placed the rodent on his shoulder, where Selene immediately wrapped her long tail about Snape\'s neck. She pressed against him, nuzzling his ear and tickling it with her whiskers. Snape giggled at her show of welcome and affection. The rat settled down on his shoulder contentedly, almost as if she were observing her master as he scribbled away in his journal.


So much had happened. Snape didn\'t think that he would be able to sleep a wink. Not only had his ridiculous plan succeeded wonderfully, but Potter was actually attracted to him as well! It was more than he could have ever dreamed of. He grinned again as he thought of how Potter had been watching him as much as he had been watching Potter. The possibility that the Gryffindor was merely leading him on or playing some sort of joke had crossed his mind. But Potter\'s seemingly genuine anguish and raw display of emotion seemed entirely too sincere to have been fabricated. Clearly, Potter wasn\'t the happy, well-adjusted student everyone thought he was. For some strange reason, Snape just knew that his lovely Quidditch champion was being honest with him.


Yes, I know about pain and suffering. My worthless Muggle father taught me all about that. I know EXACTLY how you feel, James!


Selene twittered quietly as Snape turned to a fresh page, his quill dancing across the parchment. He bent his head down, catching the remains of Potter\'s wonderful lingering musk on his shoulder. Inhaling deeply he closed his eyes, carried back to their last embrace shared on the lawn. The memory of James\' warm, smooth skin, his lithe muscular body and his soft, eager lips caused Snape\'s stomach to twirl and jump, as well as an unmistakeable tingling of arousal in his groin.


Returning to his journal, he wrote:


James Potter


And then next to it:


Severus Potter


Scowling, Snape charmed the two names away. Still, he liked the sound of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snape had written in his journal until the oil lamp burned out, falling asleep at the desk. Selene awakened him a few hours later with a playful nip to his finger. She was a very well-behaved rat, but drew the line at a late breakfast. After taking care of Selene, Snape mixed up a quick pain relieving potion to still the stomping hippogriffs in his skull. Gathering up his towel and robe, he left his chamber, warded the door and headed up the long hall to the common room.


All there was quiet save for the soft snores emanating from one of the couches. The corridors were still deserted as he made his way to the showers. Being so early on a Saturday morning, he had the shower room to himself as he relaxed under the steaming water. It did wonders, and Snape felt rather refreshed as he charmed his hair dry. Staring into the foggy mirror, Snape turned his head this way and that, checking his reflection carefully. His hair was fine, but he\'d have to do something about his teeth. They were getting the slightest bit dingy.


Once back in his chambers, Snape carefully folded Potter\'s boxers and placed them next to the pillow on his freshly made bed. Selene chittered importantly from her perch on his desk as Snape fussed about, tidying up his room and charming everything clean for quite possibly the first time ever. The Slytherin looked at his rat, shrugging.


\"Well, one never knows when one might have guests.\"


Selene replied with one, non-committal little squeak.


Satisfied with the state of his bedchamber, Snape dressed, choosing his nicest pair of black trousers, pairing them with a white, long-sleeved pull-over shirt. It was a rather loose cut, with large billowy sleeves and laces instead of buttons. His mother had given it to him years ago; this was the first time he had ever worn it. Giving his boots a final buff, he buckled his wide leather belt, making sure his shirt was tucked in perfectly. With a final glance in his tiny table mirror, he took a deep breath and headed out once more towards the common room.


The house elves had cleaned away the debris from the previous evening\'s festivities. Two of the strange creatures were attempting to rouse the still groggy Merlin from his couch with little success. Snape chuckled to himself. It was Carrows. The git never could hold his firewhiskey. By now, there were a few other Slytherins moving about the huge room. They ignored him, as usual. That was fine with Snape. He liked it that way.


Pompous pure bloods!


Crossing through the portal and into the corridor, it occurred to Snape that he and Potter had failed to make plans to see each other again. This realization very nearly stopped him dead in his tracks.

How could he have been so daft? After all the effort he had put into the plan to get the Gryffindor alone, how had he forgotten something so simple as planning their next meeting? How would he ever be able to approach Potter now?

Cursing himself for being so moronic, Snape barely averted a head-on collision with Slinkard, the Defense Against Dark Arts Instructor. The doddering Professor sputtered loudly over the Slytherin\'s inattentiveness, re-adjusting his armload of texts before shuffling down the corridor, growling irritably.


Still extremely displeased with himself, Snape climbed the stairs into the entry hall, oblivious to the activity around him. Ignoring the notable number of stares thrown in his direction, Snape walked through the open double doors and into the Great Hall. The four, long house tables were back in place. There was absolutely no trace of the All Hallow\'s Eve Ball from the previous evening. Snape swallowed hard as he noticed how many students were milling about the Hall. There were far more than he had anticipated.


Suddenly self-conscious, he lowered his gaze and headed towards the Slytherin table, attempting to covertly scan the huge room for any sign of Potter. Why had he thought that the Marauder would be in the Great Hall for breakfast, anyway? When had he ever noticed Potter at breakfast on weekends? For that matter, when was the last time he himself had eaten a meal in the Great Hall?


Bugger!


Once more, Snape berated himself for not thinking things through. What the hell was wrong with him? His thoughts were disjointed, running pell-mell inside his buzzing brain. All that he could think of was Potter\'s winning smile. Those gorgeous, hazel eyes. That wonderfully perfect body.


Snape was so self-involved that he failed to notice three more stares as he took a seat mid-way down the Slytherin table. He was so intent on robotically filling his plate with eggs, bacon and sausages that he was oblivious to the snickers coming from a trio of his housemates. Lucius Malfoy, Rudolphus Lestrange and Farron Yaxley were sitting a few seats down and opposite from Snape. They were huddled together, laughing and pointing in the solitary Slytherin\'s direction. Finally, Snape sensed their stares. All three were now glaring at him, snickering. Malfoy cleared his throat importantly.


\"See? I told you. Snivellus washes his hair once a month, whether it is needed or not!\" Malfoy grinned as his goons guffawed loudly.


Snape did his best to ignore them. He now recalled why he rarely took a meal in the Great Hall.


Yaxley was giggling like a demented banshee. \"And look at that shirt! Bet he got it from the girl\'s dormitories!\" He then squealed in a high-pitched voice, and Lestrange joined him. While his two friends wailed away, Malfoy grinned evilly.


Snape spared them a sideways glance as he concentrated on inhaling his breakfast. He noted that some students from the other house tables were now staring at him as well. Snape felt the unmistakable sensation of a major blush coloring his neck and face. He thought the heat of it would begin to singe the food on his plate.

Tucking into his food, Snape noted two figures entering the Hall. Black and Lupin were strolling towards the Gryffindor table, talking quietly to each other and exchanging schmoopy expressions. There was no sign of Potter. Snape stared as the two Marauders sat down next to each other. From his position, Snape could see that Black had placed his hand on Lupin\'s thigh. As if on cue, Black turned around, his eyes locking onto Snape\'s. The Slytherin forced his gaze back to his plate in an all-to-obvious motion that signified to the Marauder that he had indeed been staring at them. Out of the corner of his eye, Snape saw Black nudge Lupin, who also turned to stare at him.


Fuck! What else could go wrong this morning!?


Malfoy and his gang had turned their attentions to a group of Ravenclaw third years, temporarily letting Snape off the hook. He scanned the Great Hall once more for any sign of his Gryffindor. Where the hell was he?


Shit!


Another burst of laughter echoed through the Hall. Snape\'s head snapped in the direction of the noise. A gaggle of Hufflepuffs were fooling around with some Whizzing Worms. The Care of Magical Creatures instructor, Kettleburn, scuttled over to the perpetrators, reprimanding them in his deep, gravelly voice. His thin, wispy hair swirled about as he jerked his head fiercely, his bony finger pointing to each Hufflepuff in turn. As Kettleburn herded the chastised students out of the Hall, something small and brown landed on the sleeve of his shirt. Snape started as the tiny bug clicked angrily. The charm whirred loudly as the Bombing Beetle popped, leaving a large, smelly black stain behind. The Slytherin didn\'t bother to look in the direction of the latest barrage of laughter that was undoubtedly directed at him.


James! Where in Circe are you? SHIT!


Another Bombing Beetle landed mere inches from Snape as he was gulping down the last of his pumpkin juice. He was about to leap from the table to make his escape when a ruckus broke out nearby.


A group of Gryffindors were walking by the still snickering trio of Malfoy, Lestrange and Yaxley. Without warning, two of the Gryffindors toppled into the Slytherins, pushing their faces right into their eggs, sausage and porridge. A third Gryffindor somehow managed to lunge into his two stricken housemates, bouncing off of them and landing on the tabletop. The impact launched a bowl of fried tomatoes airborne, landing directly on Malfoy\'s head. The three Gryffindors looked shocked and mortified as the Slytherins spluttered and gasped, attempting to wipe the breakfast from their eyes.


The rest of Malfoy\'s face was becoming as red as the top of his head. His long, silvery-blond hair was a tangled mess. Lestrange was extracting a sausage from one of his nostrils, and Yaxley was roughly wiping the oatmeal from his eyes and nose. The Hall was now filled with riotous laughter. Black and Lupin were leaning on each other, red-faced.


As Snape gaped, wide eyed, he felt something stroke the side of his face. Turning quickly, there was no one there. Then, he felt it again, a gentle caress, this time on the other cheek. Whirling to stare in the other direction, he heard a familiar giggle, very close to him. Glancing about in confusion, he received a gentle squeeze on his shoulder.


Then the voice whispered clearly in his ear.


\"Sev! It\'s me! James! Don\'t give me away. Just listen. Meet me behind Hagrid\'s hut in ten.\"


One more caress, and then Snape felt a slight whoosh of air, as if someone walked by him very quickly. Rising from his seat, the Slytherin stalked out of the Great Hall. One final backwards glance showed a tomato-covered Malfoy face to face with a wildly gesturing Black. Lestrange and Yaxley were pointing at Lupin, who was clearly failing in his efforts to keep a straight face. Grinning for the first time since he entered the Hall, Snape strode through the open front doors, down the marble steps, and across the lawn.


The day was somewhat mild for the first day of November. The sky was filled with slow moving, puffy gray clouds. The air was heavy and damp, threatening of rain. Snape moved quickly down the lawn, ignoring the looks from other students as he flew by them. His mind was reeling. Just the sound of Potter\'s voice had gotten his stomach all twisted. The Slytherin\'s skin still tingled where the Gryffindor had touched him. How had Potter managed it? Some sort of charm? Snape smiled broadly as he nearly stumbled down the steep stone steps that led to the tiny hollow where Hagrid\'s hut lay.


His heart pounding in his chest, Snape skirted around the Groundskeeper\'s defunct vegetable patch. He crouched down behind a low stone wall to scan the area. The shutters of the hut were closed and there was no sign of Hagrid. Snape could see no one else nearby. Off in the distance, he could make out the tiny forms of students zooming about the Quidditch pitch on their brooms. Satisfied that it was all clear, Snape darted along the wall and across the small yard. Plastering himself against the back wall of the hut, the Slytherin peered around the corner of the small building. Still seeing no one and out of breath, he moved back behind the hut, shaking his head and brushing his hair out of his face.


Barely a second later, Potter appeared from nowhere. A moment after that, the smiling Gryffindor threw himself at Snape, wrapping his arms about the Slytherin\'s neck and smothering his face with wet, sloppy kisses. Pleasantly surprised, Snape responded eagerly, returning the pressure with his own lips and firmly kneading Potter\'s wonderfully firm yet supple arse with both hands.


The Slytherin drank in his lover\'s scent, growing dizzy with it. Snape was quickly growing hard, and he could feel Potter\'s lengthening arousal as the shorter teen began to slowly grind his hips into Snape\'s. It was wonderful and messy and mind-blowing all at once. Snape gasped since he had forgotten to breathe. Potter pulled away at that moment, smiling ear to ear. His glasses were slightly askew, and his wild, raven black hair looked even more mussed than usual.


\"Hi,\" he purred simply.


\"Hi,\" Snape replied breathlessly.


When the Slytherin moved in for another snog, Potter shook his head. Holding up an index finger, he bent down and grabbed his broomstick from nowhere. Snape goggled.


\"How did you do that?\"


Potter chuckled. \"I\'ll tell you later. Wanna go for a ride?\" The Gryffindor winked and ran the backs of his fingers down Snape\'s chest. \"Nice shirt!\"


Snape blushed. \"Thank you, James. A ride? Where?\"


Potter had mounted his broom. He motioned for Snape to join him.


\"It\'s a surprise. Hop on.\"


Snape complied. He had barely situated himself when Potter kicked off and angled the broom into a steep ascent. The Slytherin nearly fell off backwards before he was able to wrap his arms tightly around the Gryffindor\'s waist. Snape pressed close, burying his chin in the crook between Potter\'s neck and shoulder. They were streaking along the river that fed the lake, with Hogwarts already far behind.


The wind was strong but warm. Potter\'s body against his own felt better than anything Snape had ever experienced. The Slytherin sighed and closed his eyes. He didn\'t even care where they were going. Snape just wanted this ride to last forever.

...TBC