If you don't fear me...

Severus sighed impatiently as his large pile of Potions papers fell to the ground again as he hurried his way along the large and lengthy corridor leading toward the school library.

Cursing under his breath as he gathered them up into a messy bundle, Severus slammed his back against the entrance doors to the library and shuffled his way inside, balancing the papers, his bag, some books and his dignity along the way. Peeking over the top of the papers and his books, Severus grinned as he saw Andromeda sitting at the table in the far corner of the room.

Severus was having a rough week. Despite the flying rumors, he was not going insane. Just teetering above that fine line. Pacing back and forth with Apollo in his arms, Severus stood in the small courtyard just west to Ravenclaw tower, a place he often reserved for pondering the meaning of life, or perhaps a casual read.

It was hard to tell from the overgrowth above his head, but the sun was actually shining today. It was still bitter cold, as Scotland was most of the time, but at least it was bright.

Sighing and pacing, Severus scratched Apollo's ears and smiled inwardly. He loved Sundays. They were so lazy, and work-free.

Never one to turn down an invitation of hospitality, Remus gathered his things (including, sadly, the niffler.) and headed up to the dorms, careful to avoid any younger years who might provide distraction.

Reaching his destination, he poked his head in curiously, glancing around until he spotted Sirius and smiling slightly, coming in. "I hope you've kept my spot nice and warm..."

Lucius Malfoy exited the Hogwarts Castle, his usual cocky smirk on his face. His hair was back to normal, if not a little lighter. Was that even possible? He ran a hand through it, a sigh of relief escaping him. Thank god. He was wearing his normal school uniform minus the robe, which consisted of neat, dark khaki pants, and a plain white shirt with a silver and green neck tie. Under his arm was a book on the Dark Arts. It was after classes, and he decided to catch up on a bit of reading.

He made his way down to the Lake edge, and watched it quietly lap at the shore. He sat down on the grass, about a yard away from the actual water. He opened the book, and stared down at the first chapter. He ran his tongue over his teeth absentmindedly, cool gray blue eyes looking up at the lake again.

Reading..eh. It was on the Dark Arts, his favorite subject, but then again, Lucius and reading about any type of spell never really..mixed well. Of course, he enjoyed novels and that sort of thing. But memorizing spells, even if it was the Dark Arts, could be a bit boring to him. Damn it, he should have brought out a different book. Oh well. He was in a good mood, and nothing could spoil it.

Gilderoy stared mournfully at Severus' favorite tree. On the one hand, it was a gorgeous marvel of nature-- on the other hand, it had clearly taken abuse from the one who loved it so much. Then again, Gilderoy had been half-expecting there to be big signs everywhere that said, "property of Severus Snape-- do not touch-- that means YOU, Malfoy"... so, this was an improvement.

Gilderoy pulled out the scrap parchment and the box of 16 assorted Crayola crayons from the pocket of his sweatshirt, and set them at the base of the trunk, turning to look out on the lake. He did intend to go for a run that day, otherwise he would not be dressed as he was, but he wanted to be sure that Severus could have the chance to feel the joy he assosiated with crayons.

Not that anyone could know that Severus was excited about crayons. Gilderoy gave a short bark of laughter, and sat down to wait, thinking distractedly that he should have told Andromeda he was going for a run.

Right after dinner was over, Lucius headed to the Library immeadiatly. He already had to suffer one day with purple hair, and wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible. All day long he had suffered rude comments, eye rolls, quiet giggling, and snide remarks. God damn it. He hated this. He hated this school. A majority of his friends had graduated last year, save for a few, and Lucius had the empty sense of lonliness nagging at the back of his head. He let out a long sigh, threading his fingers through his purple locks.

Lucius finally reached the Library, icy gaze traveling over the room. There were about three gryffindor girls, 5th years, perhaps. All looked up when Lucius walked in, and began snickering, yet tried to cover it up by fits of coughing. Lucius gave them 'the look', which silenced them immeadiatly. The rest of the Library was smart enough not to make any noises in his presence. He was Head Boy, after all. He quickly went to the section labeled 'Potions' and took out about five thick books, each as long as the next. It would be worth it, he assured himself, sitting down in a corner table and opening the first one. It would be a long night.

After a relatively uneasy morning of double Divination then double Defense Against The Dark Arts, Severus would always look forward to his free periods at the end of the day. But not this time.

Severus strode none too calmly up the steps leading toward the dungeons, his usually curtained hair almost sticking out in wild cow-licks, his lips unnaturally red, his tie loosened and hanging in a scruffy mess around his neck.

Banging through the outside doors leading towards the lake, Severus breathed in calming breaths before dumping his bag and books underneath the oak tree with a loud 'thwack!', sending some birds off in flight a couple of trees away.

Bloody first years... wouldn't know the difference between a sleeping draught and a shrinking potion if it bit them in the arse!!

Pacing back and forth to calm himself, Severus rid himself of his outer-robe, so he was just wearing his shirt and school trousers. Reaching into his back pocket, he retrieved a cigarette and put it between his lips, before lighting it with his wand.

Gilderoy, who had black smudges under his eyes from not sleeping a wink while he was trying to study potions, sat at the very far end of the Hufflepuff table, absently eating a piece of toast while still pouring over a large book. A few Hufflepuff girls had gathered around him and were fussing over his un-kept state—even his hair had been neglected that morning, and it was sticking out in every direction as though he had gone straight from his bed to breakfast.

He briefly glanced up at the adjacent Gryffindor table for any sign of Lily or Remus, but was quick to return to his book. Vaguely he wondered if Severus had come down to breakfast yet—and further more if Severus would be able to make heads or tails of the words that seemed to swim across the pages as Gilderoy’s vision blurred.

His thoughts were interrupted as, quite suddenly, there was a virtual riot from the general direction of the Slytherin table. It was followed by bouts of laughter from the rest of the room. Gilderoy looked to the entryway to see Lucius Malfoy walking in, the very picture of anger, with rather lovely, long lavender hair. Gilderoy blinked once, unable to control the rising smirk that came to his face, and went back to his studying.

Over his shoulder, he could hear the Slytherins throwing accusations and fawning over their headboy. “Bloody well serves him right,” Gilderoy muttered, unheard by the ears of those around him, masked by the general roar of amusement and disbelief.

Severus Snape had never done anything like this before to anyone before, let alone to someone from his own house. But he was determined that Lucius Malfoy would go down this time - the git deserved it for all the crap he had put Severus through throughout the years.

So here he was, not exactly sneaking as the bathrooms were his own too, and sneaking would make him look suspicious, but sauntering nonchalantly down the narrow corridor toward the Senior Boys' Bathroom of the Slytherin dungeons. Glaring at a couple of third year girls who squeezed by him giggling, Severus continued on his way, feeling the glass bottle hit against his leg, buried deep in his left pocket.

Grasping the doorhandle to the room, Severus scanned the dim-lit corridor once before entering, thankful that no 6th or 7th year boy had decided that now would be a good time to take a bath. Closing the door with a simple locking charm, Severus glided over to the end of the room where a long line of stone sinks and gold framed mirrors lay against the wall, each sink occupied with the owner's wash-bag and temporary gold-plated name-carving; in a bid to be special and undoubtedly Slytherin. Only one word came to Severus' mind; tasteless.

In the very middle of the mirrors lay one particular large frame; labeled 'Lucius Malfoy; Head Boy'. Smirking, Severus picked up his black and silver wash bag stamped with the Malfoy crest, and zipped it open. Inside he found what he expected - a Mary Poppins style bag that had countless amounts of cosmetics inside. The ponce. Reaching inside and picking out the simple, slender white bottle of shampoo, Severus unscrewed the glass stopper and poured half it's contents down the sink.

Say farewell to your silver locks, Malfoy... Severus thought with a sly grin.

Putting the shampoo bottle onto the counter, Severus swiftly pulled out the bottle of potion from his pocket, undoing the stopper with his teeth. He poured it inside Malfoy's shampoo, watching it swirl and mingle until the entire consistency changed back to white. Smiling in triumph, Severus put the empty vial of potion into his pocket, placed Malfoy's shampoo and wash-bag back in their correct spaces and headed back to the door.

Muttering the unlocking charm, Severus walked casually out of the room and headed back down the narrow corridor, not looking back until he was outside of the castle.

owl to Severus