When the Moment comes

Severus stepped back into a niche attempting to merge with the shadows along the wall. He leaned against the cool stone. There were still fifteen minutes before the class but he had nowhere else to go, driven out of the dormitories by his own doing. He hexed Kerdo. He forgot to ward his trunk early morning when he was getting the books. His stepbrother was not the only one who wanted to get into his things, thus Severus always kept his possessions carefully locked away until this day. When he came back from charms and saw Kerdo kneeling beside the open trunk Severus acted on instinct. At the very top lay their last potions assignment, top marks as usual. Getting punished for the hex was far better than allowing his grades secret to be revealed to the stepfamily.

Severus could kick himself for the stupidity. Of all the ridiculous mistakes to make it had to be this one. There had to be a potion to turn himself invisible, preferably until the end of the year. He was not exactly hiding from retribution. In fact, he would happily accept any punishment his stepbrothers were happy to inflict on him as long as the incident did not come to Tanya’s knowledge. Unfortunately, he knew too well that they will tell her.

He tensed hearing the footsteps approach along the hallway however they were far too light and swift to belong to either of his stepbrothers. His relief was short lived when he noticed that it was the bloody Gryffindor approaching. Most annoyingly, James seemed to be completely carefree walking with a spring in his step, his glasses sparkling in the light.

“Heh, Snivellus, cuddling the wall I see? I hope I’m not interrupting a tender moment.” He called out casually, not really looking for a fight.

Severus had reached the edge of his patience. He was angry to be punished for something he could have easily avoided with Kerdo and he was still embarrassed that he allowed James to catch him off guard so easily with Eradian. He did not forget the prank they tried to play on him, although they had no way of knowing it was him. At least he hoped not. “That is rich coming from a loser who went all alone to the ball yesterday.” Severus scowled darkly. “Judging by the way you arrogantly strut around I deduct Lily have not heard yet about your most embarrassing incident at the party last night.” He learned long ago that the best way to infuriate Potter was through Lily. There were no professors in the hallway to overhear their quarrel, thus he was fairly safe to bait James.

James eyed his long time nemesis wearily. He was not interested in a quarrel. The insult came as a habit. Now that he had Snape’s attention he could not walk away. Turning his back on Snape was never a good idea. The remark concerning Lily bothered him. Sirius and he talked about their failure last night but they only regretted not acting faster to remove the mask. Neither of them thought their behaviour to be embarrassing. Nor did he think their action gathered any kind of audience. The incident passed fast and quiet. He knew however that Lily sometimes had very different views, which he failed to understand but took seriously. “You cannot possibly know anything about what happened at the balls because you weren’t there. You never are. I wonder if the Ministry of Magic made a law to ban you from attending. Good for them. If you came over, you would stink up the place and dim all the lights.” He retorted.

Good, Severus decided, the Marauders didn’t suspect anything it seemed, otherwise James, once angered, wouldn’t have failed to mention it to him. “I don’t need to be there to know enough. Everyone is talking about it. So how is your arm Potter? Did you run to the healing wing? Perhaps madam Pomfey gave you a cuddle and a lollipop to make it all better?” Severus spat through the gritted teeth.

James went red. The sound of squeaky, nervous laughter reached them; Pettegrew obediently laughing at another one of the vulgar Black’s jokes. Not good, Severus thought. Wherever Potter went, his little gang was not far behind. Severus gripped the wand tucked away in the sleeve.

“Is everything all right here?” A smooth voice enquired.

James and Severus were so focused on each other that they failed to notice a Slytherin Head Boy sneak up on them. They spun around to face him; one with triumph, another with trepidation.

Realizing that Severus was not going to say anything James volunteered in a clipped tone. “Fine. We are waiting for transfiguration class to start.” The Slytherin most certainly will be happy to deduct points from Gryffindor, he thought indignantly. Snape could get away with starting the fight.

The Head Boy eyed them unconvinced however he had no evidence. Perhaps he should have waited a bit longer. Judging by the colour James’s face turned, the boy was close to exploding. “I certainly hope so.” He said significantly. “Professor will be here any moment.” He emphasised last two words. He didn’t want to have a duel behind his back.

Severus smiled at James nastily. He won this round. He was safe although not for long, he thought dismally as the chill descended in the pit of his stomach.