Severus... Reformed / SNILY (COMPLETE)

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Did you really get the highest mark in every single exam?" Asked Remus. He, Severus and their fellow dormitory users: Edgar, Nicholas and George sat outside in the shade of a tree. They'd had to coerce Severus to even step one foot outside with his pale complexion, and so had resorted to hogging the single patch of shade in the vast grounds.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" Severus questioned, smirking slightly.

Remus shook his head. "On second thoughts, no."

Their companions laughed. Severus had received full marks in Potions, DADA, Herbology, Charms and Astronomy. He had his mother to thank for his knowledge of both herbs and constellations. Before her immense decline in health, Eileen Snape had been eager to share her knowledge of the wizarding world, however much she feared showing him actual spells and charms. He had slipped up in Transfiguration due to misreading the question; he'd talked about the effects of Incarcerous instead of Incarcifors, an easy mistake to make, apart from the obvious difference in difficulty. Incarcifors was a first-year spell that transfigured objects to capture an opponent (they'd practised by transfiguring tables into ropes), and Incarcerous, a fifth-year spell which needed no transfiguring and was merely conjuring ropes or chains to bind an opponent.

"I think you probably got the highest score ever recorded for History of Magic, as well," said Nicholas. "What did you get, one-hundred-and-thirty percent?"

"One-hundred-and-thirty-two," Severus corrected.

"What did you slip up on?" This time it was George asking.

"Urg the Unclean," Severus admitted ruefully, bowing his head in misery.

Remus chuckled.

"Typical," he muttered, and then something caught his eye. "Severus, Lily's coming, with her entourage."

He was right. There was a group of seven or so girls: Mary Macdonald, Alice Abbott, Natalie Prewett, Emily Macmillan, Jane Court, Alicia Fawley and Selena Shafiq, it looked to be. Lily led the way, red hair swinging even as she marched towards them.

"Hello boys!" She exclaimed brightly. "However did you manage to get Sev outside?"

"A lot of force," Edgar grumbled. Severus scowled.

She laughed. Remus spoke up.

"I'm almost surprised you don't have any Slytherins with you. What do you have against them?"

Lily seemed surprised.

"Why?" She inquired.

"Well," Remus replied, assessing the situation, "you have four Hufflepuffs, one Ravenclaw and two Gryffindors. What about Lyra Parkinson, or Alecto Carrow?" He joked.

She made a look of disgust.

"We have almost half the female population of the first year, in our group" she said proudly. "Only, Anna Brown is too busy sucking up to Olivia Johnson, the Kirke twins are always hanging around with Millie Coote, and Deidre Spinnet is friendly with Madeleine Selwyn and Francesca Rowle."

Severus spoke up.

"Deidre's amiable enough, and Madeleine's perfectly nice. Also, I think Francesca's family is pretty neutral at the moment."

He still wanted to defend the majority of his old house, even if not all of them had the Hufflepuffs' kind trait.

George puffed up.

"What do you not have against Slytherins?"

Severus gave him a searching look.

"Each of Hogwarts' four had their unique personalities. Hufflepuff was kind and gentle. She praised those that worked hard and rewarded the loyal. Ravenclaw was wise, but yet slightly maddened by her unending knowledge. This did not mean she wasn't kind. Then there was Gryffindor. He was brave, stubborn, foolhardy, a perfect representation of our own James Potter." Several of them laughed at this. "This did not mean that he couldn't be clever. And finally, there was Slytherin. Cunning, ambitious, he liked to have connections. While he worked in the shadows, this didn't mean that he couldn't be brave, and work in the light. What should we have against the Slytherins, Corner?"

George couldn't answer him. None of them could. And Severus hadn't expected them to be able to. It had taken him thirty-eight short years to understand James Potter's bravery in standing up to the Dark Lord, Pettigrew's cunning in joining the winning side, Black's loyalty in running after Harry, and Remus' intelligence in teaching the Boy-Who-Lived how to battle the Dementors. It would take them just as long, if not longer, to understand just as well as he did. After all, he had two lives in which to fathom it out. Not everyone could say that.

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A.N. Hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading and PLEASE COMMENT!!!!!!!