Alexandra Weasley: Book 4

27

"My friendship with Lily was harder. I had no plans to be a dark wizard. I was just sharing some knowledge with my housemates. What they did with it was their prerogative. I was twelve so I didn't really think of the consequences. So James and his friends turned all of the Gryffindors against me, except Lily. They didn't understand why she continued to spend time with someone who obviously dealt with black magic and I wouldn't let her tell them how involved in the research process she was. I knew the moment she did, she'd be shunned and unlike me, she wouldn't have the Slytherins for backup." He sighed and shifted in his seat. "She was reluctant to agree but eventually gave in. James and his friends seemed to think she needed saving from me."

"I'd have hexed him by then."

"I was a Slytherin and he a Gryffindor. I would never get away with something so outright. I'd have lost at least a hundred points. The rumours of my being able to do black magic reached Dumbledore's ears, and I was summoned. He had no proof, of course, but it didn't stop him from investigating. He didn't find anything. The animosity between James and his friends and I grew. He hated that Lily thought him immature and annoying. I won't pretend I was innocent. I knew what buttons to push. His father was a great potioneer so James wanted to succeed in the class. So I worked harder and made sure to beat him. It helped that potions came a lot easier to me, as did defense and herbology." He let his eyes fall to her plate and she took the hint, eating. "It irked him and I took pleasure in it. I was invited to join the slug club, along with Lily. James was invited once and never again."

"The slug club?"

"My old potions professor, professor Slughorn had a club for students with potential."

"Potential?"

"He had many contacts, so he'd throw parties for his favoured students, help them accumulate influences. Students he thought would get very far in the future."

"Let me guess, he was also the head of Slytherin before you?"

"That's right." He glanced again at her plate and she rolled her eyes. She was halfway through, and hardly felt nauseated so his story distraction was clearly working. She took another bite. "As we grew, Lily started to think that James and Lupin weren't all bad. That they had their good moments. I disagreed, and so we just agreed not to talk about them."

"Kind of like Draco and Blaise being my friends even though Hermione hates them?"

"Kind of, yes. I'm not certain Lupin ever hated me as much as Black and James-"

"I know it's Harry's dad you're talking about, so if you're calling him by his first name for anonymity purposes, you don't need to."

"I suppose it's obvious. I'm not quite sure why Black hated me so much. Maybe it's the fact that I was a Slytherin who would willingly interact with a Gryffindor when his own family as good as disowned him for being one. Or I was an easy target." Snape shrugged. "But he did. He was the cruelest of the group, and Potter a close second. Lupin was quiet but had just as much a hand in their... pranks. Pettigrew was always pathetic and more of an audience than anything. There to jeer them on or laugh. They were Gryffindors. They were brutal and brash. I was a Slytherin, and nothing I did was ever proven. I'd jinx his mandrake root to make them wail when he took off his earmuffs to talk to Black and Lupin, and add vinegar to his potions sometimes, to dilute their potency."

"What did they do?" Alex asked.

"They were... creative." Snape tried to avoid answering the question.

"You said you'd tell me everything I wanted to know. I want to know what they did to you. You're not telling me what they did, just what you did. I want to know all of it." His eyes darkened, and she leaned back wondering if maybe she pushed too far.

"They'd humiliate me." Snape eventually said. "String me up in hallways, rip open my bag in the middle of the hall, send hexes and jinxes as I rushed to my class."

"Where was Dumbledore?"

"They were Gryffindors. Surely you've realised by now that Gryffindors can get away with almost anything?"

"They didn't get into any trouble?"

"Not with any teacher at least. My fellow Slytherins would retaliate, and we'd lose points of course, but we always managed to win them back with Slughorn." Snape stood up and walked over to the kettle and boiled water. "I told you my brother and I steadily grew apart as I went home for the holidays less and less. By the end I'd only see him in the summers, and things with our father were worse. The fight that cut us apart happened when our mother died. I went home for the funeral and our grandmother, our mother's side, had come. She's still around, by the way. She'd somehow learned of my friendship with Lucius and made remarks. Mainly that she was glad that despite my upbringing, I saw things the right way. She hated Ty on principle and barely spoke a word to him. The divide was too much. Our father was already on edge by her visit, hating her for cutting us off. It was a very tense time. It was the last time I saw Ty- before I returned to Hogwarts. He moved away, for university, and I didn't have much reason to go home. Summers were spent with classmates and friends. Sometimes Lucius would invite me on his family's holidays to France or Spain or wherever they were going that year. Easters and Christmas breaks, I'd stay at school. Then sixth year came. Loyalties were usually declared by then. Dark, light, or neutral. I'd been planning to stay neutral. Dark would have meant hating Lily, and I could never bring myself to. Light would mean I couldn't continue my personal studies, and I'd be fighting a lot of my friends alongside Potter and Black. Neutral seemed the best choice. I hadn't officially made my choice, though. I wasn't an idiot, I was planning to wait until I at least graduated Hogwarts before publicly pledging allegiance." Alex took another bite without a prompt, this time. Snape sat down, with a cup of freshly brewed tea.

A/N- So the results are in and most of y'all voted for McGonagall's granddaughter. So I shall try to get cracking. Still, it's not going to be up for a very long time, cos I still need to know what direction I want to take the book. I have some ideas, but it'll be a while. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed thisss 💛🖤💛