Silvanna Snape {Marauders}

Chapter Seventy-Three

Currently writing fifth year but DAMN it's gonna be spicy :)

By the next morning, the bleeding had at least stopped, and Silvanna peeled away the fabric to inspect the wound. It looked just like a regular mark from the belt, if a little thinner and deeper. Nothing long sleeves couldn't solve. And it was only two weeks until she could ask Madame Pomfrey to take a look. Oh, how embarrassing that was going to be. "Hi Poppy, me again. Wondering if you could take a look at this because I'm incompetent and keep provoking my dad - I mean, climbing trees." She was really going to have to have a sit down and look at some healing spells. They even did them last year in Defence, and she could hardly remember how to clean a wound without a potion.

On Tuesday, the Hogwarts letters came in the post, along with new book lists. They only needed the Standard Book of Spells: Grade Five, and her mum had a copy of that. But Silvanna also needed some new uniform, and they both needed potions ingredients and parchment and things.

To Silvanna's surprise, when she arrived downstairs on Wednesday morning, it was to see Severus and her mum waiting for her. "You can take the floo to the Leaky Cauldron, can't you?" her mum said. Silvanna still needed to tell her about he fiasco with the Princes.

"Aren't you coming?" asked Silvanna, pulling her cloak around her and putting her almost empty money-bag on her pocket. First stop: Gringotts.

"No, I'll stay," said her mum, giving her a quick hug. Silvanna tried hard not to wince - her arm was still sore and red. No biggie though, nothing she hadn't dealt with before. "You'll be alright on your own, won't you? Stick together?"

"Yeah, Mum, we'll be fine," Silvanna said, forcing a smile. Why wasn't her mum going? She always went.

"And you've got your wands?" her mum carried on. "I know you're not supposed to use them-"

"We'll be fine," echoed Severus, giving Silvanna a meaningful look. He was right - their dad would be up soon. Without another word, he stepped into the fireplace, the flames turning green, and disappeared.

"Bye, Mum," said Silvanna, still forcibly smiling. "See you later - I've got to be back for work, so-"

"I know, I know," said her mum, ushering her forward as a creak sounded upstairs. She planted a quick kiss on her cheek, "Be careful." Silvanna nodded, before flooing after her brother.

The Leaky Cauldron was quiet, and empty apart from a few guests and loiterers. She flashed the barman a quick smile as she looked around for Severus, but he was nowhere to be seen. Had he gone on without her?

Apparently, the answer was yes, because the bricks in the back courtyard were already shifting apart. "Mum said not to wander off," she scolded, scowling at him.

Severus looked her up and down. "You can go off by yourself, can't you? We're not children."

"Actually," said Silvanna, stepping through after him. "We are-"

"Severus!" Silvanna heard the awfully familiar voice of Mulciber, and frowned at her brother.

"Go on, go away," he said. Silvanna didn't need to be told twice - she wanted nothing to do with this side of her brother, the prick. She hurried off down the street, pushing past people and holding her wand inside her pocket. It was already quite busy, and she supposed she should've expected it; letters had come out yesterday, so everyone would be coming to Diagon Alley at some point in the next few weeks.

After submitting to a security scan at Gringotts, she was led down to her vault. It was the first time she'd actually been inside, having only made a deposit last year. She was surprised to find it a lot more full than last year - oh yes, the money from the Princes. Ha! Free money, and she could fly. Brilliant.

Silvanna's first stop was the large second-hand shop on the corner between Diagon and Knockturn Alley. She picked up as much uniform as she could carry - it was hardly like she was going to grow out of it - and her new textbook, trying to find the least worn-through one. She could probably afford a new one, but what was the point when this was a fifth of the price? She needed new shoes as well, but these were all falling apart. Maybe she'd buy those new...

By the time Silvanna was done in there and heading to the apothecary, Diagon Alley seemed to be full to bursting, and she had a hard time pushing through the throngs of people. The apothecary was just as bad, but thankfully people didn't want to spend too long in here because of the - quite frankly - abhorrent smell.

"...no, I don't need those, Mum, I'm not doing NEWT level," someone was saying as Silvanna began filling her basket with all the basic ingredients.

"But you might next year," their mum said, and Silvanna rolled her eyes, grinning. It probably would've gone off by next September, unless it was dried. And if it was fresh it would be provided by the school. She stopped grinning when she realised next year was her NEWT year, and thus, this person was in her year.

She bent her head over a barrel of spider eyes (yuck!), trying not to be conspicuous. "There's no way Slughorn will let me on that course, Mum, let's just get what we need. I want to see David get his wand." Having got everything she needed, Silvanna joined the queue to pay, but it seemed the loud person had had the same idea, and followed her.

"Oh, he'll still be in Madame Mal - oh sorry, dear, I didn't see you there." The woman had backed into Silvanna mid-sentence. This was so embarrassing! She was going to have to look up, and interact, and-

Relief filled Silvanna from head to toe, and she grinned. "Silvanna!" cried Marlene, drawing the attention of half the shop and earning a pointed look from her mum. Silvanna grinned, feeling her cheeks flush pink as Marlene embraced her. "Mum, this is Silvanna, the one I was telling you about." Silvanna's grin dropped.

Mrs McKinnon laughed, and it was so like Marlene's laugh, Silvanna was taken aback. Like a smooth breeze on a sunny day. "All good things, don't worry," her Mum said. "I'm Dot, Marlene's mum."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Mrs McKinnon," said Silvanna.

"Ooh!" said Marlene suddenly, but Silvanna was so used to her bursts of excitement that she didn't so much as flinch. She actually found it quite endearing. "Please can Silvanna come back with us for tea? I want to show her those records I got for my birthday."

"Happy birthday, by the way," Silvanna piped in, before Mrs McKinnon could respond.

"That's a great idea," said Mrs McKinnon. "And maybe she'll actually tell David something useful for Hogwarts."

"David's my little brother," Marlene explained. "He's starting this year."

"Oh, that's nice," said Silvanna apprehensively. "I'm sorry, but I have to get back soon - this was actually my last stop. I'll see you at Hogwarts though?"

Marlene looked quite disappointed, but quickly cheered up again and gave Silvanna a hug. "Enjoy your last two weeks of peace," she said with a cheeky grin, waving as Silvanna left the shop with her things.