pure ; james potter [marauders era]

f i v e ;

[ october 18th, 1976 ]

It was the day after Gryffindor's big win and Octavia sat under a tree near the Black Lake with Lily and Severus, trying to mend her throbbing hangover. Apart from the Marauder's, Lily and Severus were her best friends and she confided in them with anything and everything.

Severus loved Lily and Octavia equally, he just loved Lily in a different kind of way. He had told Octavia about his feelings before and he loved how supportive she was about it. It made him happy that he had another friend to talk to about it, seeing as though he couldn't tell Lily nor any of his prejudice friends from Slytherin.

The only thing that bothered Severus about Octavia was her choice in friends. He saw absolutely no wrong in the girl, except for two things; one, her blood status (but he chose to ignore that) and two, why she chose to hang out with those idiots. She was much better than them, in his opinion.

He had openly told her about this, too. Although she disagreed strongly with this, she could see where the Slytherin's opinion was coming from. After all, they were constantly taunting and bullying him for no reason at all. This broke Octavia's heart and she stepped in every time, defending Severus. Her actions wildly annoyed the boys, but they listened to her every time and eventually left Severus alone.

Remus believes that the reason James gets mad is because Severus takes Octavia away from him. And of course, Sirius, Peter and himself will always take James' side, no matter what the issue. Although Remus doesn't take much interest in picking on Severus, so he mainly stands there awkwardly, more likely than not trying to pretend that his focus was on something else.

"I feel like I haven't spent time with you two in so long." Severus says, looking at both Lily and Octavia.

The two girls nodded in agreement, thinking of how much being in different houses separated the students. "I just wish we had more spare time between classes and common room time so we could meet up. Once or twice a week isn't enough." Lily spoke.

Octavia's eyes wandered along the school yard, observing the different friendship groups. Her eyes landed on James and she started to smile before seeing he was with someone. It was a sixth year Hufflepuff girl, and she was absolutely stunning. The Hufflepuff was shamelessly flirting with him, talking about how absolutely incredible he played yesterday. And although Octavia was too far away to hear the conversation, she knew the girl was flirting. How could she not? She was talking to James Fleamont Potter. The young witch couldn't help but feel a bit sad.

"Tavia, are you okay?" Lily asked with caution in her voice. "I swear your eyes went a vibrant blue for a bit."

"Lily don't be ridiculous." Octavia chuckled anxiously. "That's impossible."

Lily silently agreed, knowing Octavia was right. "Don't get so defensive, it's not my fault I'm going blind."

"Or mad." Severus added, laughing at Lily's reaction.

"Excuse you," Lily laughed, "The only thing that would make me go mad is you refusing to wash your hair, git."

Octavia laughed loudly at the two friends banter, but something outrageous caught her eye. The Hufflepuff that was talking to James flirtatiously burst out into giggles, placing her hand on James' toned chest as if she needed the support for her balance. Octavia rolled her eyes and puffed. She was about to get up and leave before Lily broke her trance.

"Alright, I swear I just saw your eyes go red. I think it's time you take me back to bed, Tavia, I'm really tired."

Octavia nodded her head, "Goodbye, Severus. We'll see you tomorrow."

Lily and Octavia both walked off, but Severus stayed where he was. He loved laying on the grass and watching the sun set on the Black Lake by himself. He found it rather peaceful and found himself coming to see it every second night or so. Lily and Octavia got to the girl's dorm and changed into their night outfits. Octavia went to grab her wand so she could clean her room quickly when she noticed it wasn't on her bedside table.

"Bloody hell!" She grumbled, dragging herself out of bed and out of the common room. Lily looked at where the girl was previously sitting, but brushed off the confusion and hopped into bed. Octavia ran back to the Black Lake and noticed Severus still there, laying on the grass and looking at the horizon. He turned his head to the girl once he noticed she was coming and quickly stood up.

"Tave, you left your wand. I was going to return it but I didn't really feel like going to the Gryffindor common room alone..." Severus lied, meaning that he didn't want to risk bumping into the Marauders. He knew that Octavia was aware of why he really didn't want to go, but it was easier for him to pretend like the Marauders didn't bother him.

"No, that's fine. I didn't expect you to, Sev." He handed Octavia  her wand and just as she was about to say goodbye for the second time that night, she heard a voice. It was quite and incoherent. She couldn't make out what it was saying but she knew that it was a girl, maybe eleven or twelve. By now, Severus was looking at her as if she was mad. "D-do you hear that, Sev? Where is it coming from?"

"Tavia, what are you talking about..."

"The little girl she-" By now the voice was getting even harder to recognize. Octavia took a step closer to the lake and noticed the voice get louder. Before Severus could stop her, she ran to the edge of the lake. Octavia could hear the girl clearly now, yet, somehow, her words were muffled and not making sense. "I think- I think she's in the lake Severus."

Octavia got on her hands and knees and brought her face close to the water. "Octavia, step away from the water." Severus yelled out. He knew this wasn't right. This wasn't normal. He slowly and quietly made his way towards Octavia, not wanting to startle the girl while she was in a trance.

The girl was screaming now. She was failing and screaming and begging for help, yet Octavia couldn't see one ripple dent the surface of the water. "Sev-Severus, help! Help her, she's drowning!" The horrified girl screamed.

Severus finally reached the girl and went to wrap his arms around her waist with the intention of pulling her away from the water. Just before he could, a hand shot out from the surface of the lake and wrapped around Octavia's wrist.

Before she could scream, she was pulled into the water. In a second her body was freezing and wet. The mermaid's hand was attached tightly to Octavia's wrist as she swarm further and further down. Octavia started mumbling and yanking, but it was useless against the mermaid's ability and experience with swimming. A light came rushing through the water and somehow, miraculously hit the mermaid with such a force that she was flung back.

With all of her might, Octavia started swimming for the surface. She was light headed and her body felt as if it were three times heavier, but she finally broke through the surface. She barely had enough time to breathe as her sole focus was to grab the edge of the lake. As she tried to lift herself up, two strong hands wrapped around hers once more. This time, though, they belonged to a friend with good intention.

Her body was quickly shutting down from exhaustion and panic, and before she could make out who her savior was, she passed out. Severus was no-where to be found.

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published [19/1/2017]