Severus snorted as he opened the door to the last compartment on the Hogwarts Express and came across three members of the Marauders.
Sirius was sprawled on Remus' lap asleep and James was preoccupied with trying to doodle on the boys face. Remus looked up from his book as he heard the noise that Severus made.
James also looked up at him, he immediately halted what he was doing and rushed to pull Severus into a bone-crushing hug. Severus fervently tapped the boys hand.
"Can't breathe!" He gasped.
James quickly let go.
"Sorry about that, I got overwhelmed for a moment."
Severus smiled.
"I can't believe the great James Potter missed me that much."
James blushed, but he said nothing to deny Severus' claim.
Instead, he said, "Did you miss us?"
"Did I sometimes think about you, yes. Would I call that missing you? No." That was a lie. He missed them a lot more that he would like.
James grinned at that, alerting Severus that he caught his bluff. He pulled Severus to join him at the seat opposite to Remus and Sirius. Severus waved his hand and his luggage hauled itself up and joined the others.
Severus then looked at Remus and found him reading The Tails Under The Moon. Severus chuckled making Remus look up.
"What a lovely book you're reading." He said.
Remus blushed, scratching his nape.
"Yes, a friend of mine mentioned it."
"I wonder who that friend is, they have lovely taste I tell you."
"Indeed they do."
They both smiled and held eye contact for a minute or two until they were interrupted by a cough. Severus looked to the source of the cough and it was Sirius.
"As much as I'm delighted to see you my Juliet, I have to inform you that Prongs is staring at you like you're the best thing on Earth right now. You may want to address that."
Severus turned and indeed James was staring at him with an awe-struck expression.
"I am. Now, what's the matter?"
"Can you teach me wandless magic?"
Severus shrugged his shoulder.
"On one condition. It is not to be used for your pranks."
James paused, then he nodded like a scolded child.
Sirius then stood up and made his way to Severus, he knelt down and took Severus' hand in his.
"Oh how I missed you my love. Everyday without you felt like torture, it felt so dreadful and arduous being without you for so long!" He said as he swooned dramatically.
Severus replied, "Darling I'd like to take you seriously but with the mess on your face its quite difficult to do so."
Severus conjured up a mirror and showed it to the boy.
Sirius' face screwed up at that, "Prongs! What in the name of Merlin did you do? What type of mate are you? Ruining my handsome face in front of my love!"
James laughed and Sirius jumped and started wrestling the boy and tickling him.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."
Severus waved his hand and Sirius' face was clean again. Looking in the mirror he said, "Thanks my sweetheart. What could I possibly do without you."
The door to the compartment opened and there stood Lovegood and Prewett.
"Would you mind us joining you lot?"
Sirius hopped on Severus' lap and said, "Sure ladies, I think we have enough room for you."
Remus switched seats to join the other three boys while the girls thanked them profusely before taking their seats.
Severus sat near the window with Sirius very comfortably on his lap. James sat next to Severus and Remus by James' side, Lovegood was sat opposite to Severus followed by Prewett.
Severus observed Sirius' hands. The boy was wearing the ring that Severus gifted them for Christmas. When Severus thought about it, all three of them were wearing their ring. An indescribable warmth pooled in his chest as he realised that.
Shaking his head to bring himself back to his observation he noticed how Sirius' nails lacked any care. It irked Severus that his nails looked so messy, if only the boy took care of his nails then the already nice hands would be gorgeous. Squinting his eyes, Severus decided that he would make his desire come true. He summoned his nail care kit and grabbed Sirius' hand. Without uttering a word he worked on the boys hands.
He noticed how Sirius froze as he began, pausing for a moment, Severus asked, "You don't mind, do you?"
Smiling, Sirius replied, "No, go ahead and work your magic. This is the first time I'm getting my nails done and I'm happy that its you."
Severus smirked, then he continued his mission to the quiet chatter of the other people in the compartment.
^_^^_^^_^
How gorgeous! Severus thought, as he marveled at the masterpiece called Sirius' fingers.
Severus had cut and filed the boys nails, trimming his cuticles and applying top coat to give them some shine. He nudged Sirius to get his attention. The boy looked down at his hands and gasped dramatically.
"Bloody hell Sev! My hands look amazing! I could fall in love with my hands right now, Prongs look. My hands look so much better than yours!"
James grabbed Sirius' hands and observed them, narrowing his eyes in the process. Then he sighed in defeat.
"You're so lucky, and unfortunately right. It's only cause Sev did your nails."
^_^^_^^_^
Somehow, Severus ended up opening a nail salon in the compartment. His last customer was Prewett.
Sirius whistled in awe as Severus finished his work on the girls nails.
Then he whined, "Hey! Why didn't you use colour on me?"
Chuckling, Severus replied, "I didn't think you'd like it so I just applied top coat. Next time I'll add colour."
Nodding in satisfaction, Sirius went back to nagging James.
With her fingers spread out in front of her Prewett said, "This is wonderful Snape! Where in the world did you learn this?"
He felt his ears heat up at the compliment, then he shrugged his shoulders.
"I kind of picked it up."
As a person that loved Potions, he had to take care of his hands to prevent them from interfering with his work, thus leading him to experimenting with nail care. He only recently started creating designs with colour, and that was because McGonagall volunteered to allow him to do some nail art on her nails.
Prewett nodded, "Well you sure do have some skill."
Lovegood agreed, "Indeed. This is impressive."
She had finally stopped staring at her hand.
Smiling, he suggested, "If you like it that much then I'll do you nails next time."
Then he glanced at the book that was open on her lap.
"Oh, were you looking over Mischievous Fairies?"
"Yes, yes. They're pesky little things don't you think?" Prewett replied.
"Well not quite you see. According to some texts they help farmers that they see are suffering and in exchange they're given..."
And so the conversation between the trio began. Ranging from topics about the origins of domestic charms to debates about the use of plants with the darkness attribute in healing potions.
Severus found that he enjoyed the train ride more than he anticipated.
^_^^_^^_^
"Are you angry at me?" Severus asked the werewolf that refused to look at him.
"No."
Severus eyed the boy in front of him. He had a pout on his lips that clearly contradicted his denial. It made him smile. Severus knew just the thing that would force the other pay attention to him. It was not his fault that Remus was shy and skirmish, and as a snake it is vital to exploit your preys weaknesses if you want to win.
Circling his arms around Remus' waist Severus buried his head in the boys shoulderblade. As expected, his actions got a reaction.
"W-what are you d-doing?" The boy stuttered.
Severus lifted his head up and was met with a beet red face.
"You won't tell me what's wrong. How am I supposed to fix this if all you do is huff and pout? Tell me what's wrong. Please."
Turning away from him as his face became a darker shade of red, Remus mumbled something.
"You need to speak up. I can't hear you."
"First. Let go of me."
Severus obliged.
Sighing, Remus started to speak, "It's just... you've been hanging out with Lovegood and Prewett a lot. And when you're not with them you're with Prongs, Padfoot or Padfoots younger brother. I can never have you to myself these days. I miss you."
Severus' heart soared. Was Remus jealous? That was a first. When he was friends with Lily he often felt jealous when seeing her close with others that it suffocated him. He didn't mind her interacting with others, he's not that clingy, but when it happened far too many times then the green eyed monster would plague his thoughts.
There were times that he would feel drowned in insecurity when he saw her spend so much of her time with others, even when he reached out to her, putting his pride aside she was often booked. Not that he blamed her, she was very popular, but that still didn't do much for him.
Tentatively, he asked, "Remus, are you perhaps--"
"Yes. I'm jealous, it's ridiculous, I know."
Severus smiled. He pulled the other into his arms again.
"It's not ridiculous at all. I mean, it's nice to know that my friend wants to spend time with me, but I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to leave you out. I should reach out more often. Forgive me."
Remus played hard to get, crossing his arms with difficulty and turning away from him. Similar to an angered puppy.
Snorting, Severus bribed him, "How about this. This weekend we'll go on our own little outing. Just the two of us."
Remus turned back around and then nodded his head, finally releasing a smile of his own.
^_^^_^^_^
The bell rang as they strolled into the small quaint shop by the corner. The man behind the counter greeted them cheerily.
"Welcome! I hope you've had a great da--"
He cut himself off, "Oh Merlin! Two of the ring bearers! Where's the third one?"
"Pardon?" James said.
"Severus gave those to you correct?"
"How do you know Severus?" Padfoot retorted.
"I've been waiting for you lads to buy Severus his ring for Merlin knows how long!"
"Hold on!" James said, raising his hand. The man needed to explain clearly, "Please start from the beginning. Also, what do you mean by 'buy Severus his ring'?"
The man took a deep breath, "Hello, I'm Raphael and I run this store. Severus was a customer of mine that bought the rings that you're wearing from me. Anyway, the bigger question here is do you lads know the significance of the rings that you wear?"
James and Padfoot shared a glance. Then Padfoot explained.
"We don't know the specifics but we know that they're important."
Raphael threw his hands up, "Important he says! They're not just important. No. They signify the strongest unit known to the Wizarding World. In all possible ways. Don't you boys feel that the spells you cast come to you with more ease? Don't you feel the vitality of life and the magic around you more?"
Now that he mentioned it James did feel more in tune with the nature that surrounds him ever since he started wearing the ring, but he didn't think too deeply about it. Periodic bursts of increased magical ability were normal to most wizards and witches, sometimes lasting as little as a second and for some lasting months. They almost always pass. Never lasting long.
"These rings bind you four to eachother. Historically, they bind to people of great magical ability or potential. Leaders of pioneers of sorts. The rings signify unity, strong will, and love. Love that burns like an inferno."
"Who were the last bearers?" Padfoot asked.
Smirking, Raphael replied, "The rings will tell you. You haven't unleashed their full powers yet because Severus hasn't received his."
"Can we see it?"
With a flick of his wand a box came floating towards him. He opened it. Inside lay a glowing... rock.
Raphael explained before James could ask his question.
"There's only two of you present. The ring will show its true nature when the three of you are present. So next time all of you must come."
The boys soon left the shop. There was a moment of silence, broken by Padfoot.
"I suddenly want to go see Moony and Sev."
"Agreed. I'm tempted to rush to wherever they are and kiss them square on the lips. Like this," James said, pulling Padfoot in by the arm and kissing his lips.
When the kiss ended Padfoot blinked slowly and then spoke, "Care to demonstrate again? I don't think I understood."
Author's Note: Hey! I wanted a cute chapter, so here you guys go! I hope you enjoyed it, remember to stay safe, vote and comment.