Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Four

Happy reading and thanks for voting! :)

The Common Room, thankfully, was far more peaceful than the dormitory, probably because everyone was busy settling in. Silvanna didn't intend to stay curled up on the sofa for long - just until Lily had stopped worrying her pants off.

She turned a page, peering carefully at a diagram she didn't fully understand. The sofa sagged next to her, but she payed no attention. The person opened a small book, looking down into it. "Your dorm too loud too?"

Silvanna looked up, eyebrows raised, and was surprised to see Lupin sat there, looking at her expectantly. His scars glowed meanly in the firelight. She shook her head, turning back to her book. "Something like that."

She saw him nod out the corner of her eye. "Why are you reading the textbooks?"

"Nothing else to read," she mumbled. The last thing she needed was everyone knowing how poor she was.

"But you do know there's a library?"

"Do I look like I've had the time to go to the library?" she snapped. He raised his eyebrows, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's fine," he said with a shrug, "Do you mind if I sit a while?"

"You already are," Silvanna muttered dryly, attempting to hide the tiny smile playing on her face. They sat like that for a while, just reading their books and turning the pages. That was until-

"BOO!" A pair of hands shoved into Silvanna's shoulders and she launched forward, dropping her book to the carpet and screaming as loudly as she could.

"Please, no-!" she began, her heart hammering in her throat, feeling as though she was going to cry. She braced herself, but the second strike never came. She peeled her eyes open, terrified of what she might see.

There was Potter and Pettigrew, looking startled at her reaction, and Black, who was frowning with his arms crossed. Lupin was frowning too, and bookmarking his page for later. There was the sound of footsteps, and one of the prefects appeared in the stairwell. "Keep it down, please, first years," he said with a warm smile. The boys all nodded, waiting for him to disappear before they spoke again.

"You alright, Snape?" asked Potter, looking at her with concern.

Silvanna came to her senses and brushed herself down, nodding and clearing her throat. "Yeah...uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you screamed like you were being murdered?" offered Black with a teasing smile. But his eyes showed no sign of entertainment.

"I didn't mean to scare you," said Pettigrew, wringing his hands uncomfortably.

"You didn't scare me," Silvanna said stiffly. The four of them raised their eyebrows, staring at her, and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Well," said Potter, clapping his hands together, "Come on, Lupin, we're sneaking out."

"Oh, no," said Lupin quickly, grabbing his book again. "I don't think - what if we get caught?"

"You're coming," said Black firmly, and Remus hesitantly stood up. "Snape? Coming?"

"Oh, no," said Silvanna, echoing Lupin's words but more firmly. "No, I should go back upstairs."

"Suit yourself," said Potter with a shrug, before scurrying out the portrait hole, shortly followed by the other three.

*****

The next morning, Silvanna was up before the other three girls, woken up by the small crack she'd left in the curtains. It was more out of habit than anything else - she always made sure to wake up before her dad so there were never any nasty surprises. She knew that Severus did the same, and wanted to talk to him before their first day of lessons.

She quickly showered, enjoying the warm water on her skin and using the same flowery soap as yesterday. She brushed her teeth and scrubbed her face, relishing the fact that she could use warm water for the latter, before heading back into the dorm. Lily had been patiently waiting, biting her lip, and Mary had now pressed the pillow over her face, but Marlene was still snoring softly. Silvanna dressed into her uniform, now adorning a new scarlet tie that she hoped would grow on her, before packing her school bag with parchment and flinging it over her shoulder.

It wasn't difficult to find the Great Hall, as she'd paid careful attention to the directions given by the prefects. She looked over at the Slytherin table as she entered, but there was no Severus, just a bunch of other people loony enough to be up on time. There were even less people at the Gryffindor table. Regretfully, Silvanna took a seat and helped herself to some porridge, sprinkling in some sugar just because she could.

She looked up at the sound of someone approaching, and hastily washed down her mouthful with some pumpkin juice. Merlin, it was sweet. She loved it. What she didn't love was the stern look Professor McGonagall was giving her. Was she in trouble already? Was it because she'd snapped at Lily last night? it they'd made up, hadn't they? And she'd happily engaged in conversation when she'd got back from reading in the Common Room.

"Always a pleasure to see students taking their studies seriously," said Professor McGonagall. It sounded like a compliment, but Silvanna saw no trace of a smile on her face. "Here's your timetable." McGonagall handed her a rectangle of parchment with a table on it. It looked like she had double Herbology first, with the Ravenclaws.

"Thank you," she said quietly, stuffing it into her bag. McGonagall nodded. "Professor?" she called, hoping she didn't get reprimanded for speaking out of turn. "Have you seen my brother anywhere?"

"I'm afraid not," said McGonagall somewhat stiffly. "I cannot keep tabs on all the students after all." Silvanna couldn't tell if this was a joke, so she just nodded and returned to her breakfast.

There was a steady trickle of students coming through the doors, but none that she recognised well as of yet. Definitely no Severus. The first of the Gryffindor first years to arrive was Lily, chattering away with Marlene and Mary. They saw Silvanna, who had her head buried in her Herbology textbook, and took their seats around them, still as loud as ever. She made no attempt to greet them. "Morning, Silvanna," said Marlene loudly, waving a hand over the table at her.

Silvanna jumped a little at the sudden movement, but otherwise remained inert. "I'm surprised they got you out of bed, Marlene, I thought you'd been glued to it." Marlene grinned at her and Mary let out a small giggle. Lily however, tutted.

"I don't suppose you've-" she began.

"Seen Severus?" offered Silvanna, draining the last of her pumpkin juice. Lily looked at her hopefully. "No. And I've been here all morning, which means he was here earlier than me." She scowled at the thought, before climbing from the bench and heading from the hall.

"Where are you going?" called Lily.

"For some bloody peace and quiet," returned Silvanna, walking quickly so she didn't get told off by a professor for swearing.