Chapter Four

Chapter Four

"Oi, Snivelly? Stupid bloody tosspot. Look at me when I'm talking to you, you ugly greasy poofter."

A shadow fell over the book he was cradling on his lap, and David had to clench the book tightly in a vain effort not to react to his tormenters presence.

David ground his teeth doing his best not to react to Black's taunts. It seemed a shame to avoid such a lovely warm spring day down near the lake, and it made a pleasant change from studying in the filtered light of the Library.

"What are you, fucking deaf, Snape? I was talking to you and it's not really on for you to ignore me. Isn't that right, James?"

"He's just a rude little shit, Sirius. Whadd'ya think we can do to make him listen to us?"

No idea, Prongs, but I reckon he's scared of us. After all, he'll never amount to anything, not that he was worth a tinker's fart beforehand. I think he's playing hard to get. What do you think, James? I think Snivelly is just gagging for it. Isn't that right, Snivellus? You're just a cowardly faggot."

David tossed his book aside and was on his feet with his wand pointing directly at Sirius's heart almost as soon as Black had stopped talking. Always one to play to a crowd, Sirius grinned maliciously and turned to address the students who'd gathered like moths to a flame at the hint of a duel or something more physical. David looked over the milling boys behind Potter and Black, noting with a grim satisfaction that several of his own housemates were standing around with shark-like grins in anticipation of hexing anyone, including David with whom they had 'issues' to resolve. As much as there would have been satisfaction in hexing Black in the back, as he had done many times to David, it wouldn't do to have so many witnesses to report him to the Headmaster.

"James, Stop it! I mean it. Stop picking on Sev." Lily came running up from the lake with several of her friends in tow just to add to the humiliation that David felt at being cornered and bullied by so many of his peers.

"Aw, Lily, we were just having a friendly chat, asking about some home work, weren't we, Prongs?"

"Certainly, and when I asked a simple question he pulled his wand on me, didn't he, James?" Sirius turned and looked for further support from the milling crowd around him. Lily turned her gaze behind her and saw lots of nods and mumbled words backing up Sirius' version of events.

David spat noisily at Black's feet, catching the edge of his left boot. Looking briefly at his feet, Sirius turned quickly and hexed David before he could even think of what spell to use to follow up his opening salvo.

"No! Sirius. Put him down right now!"

"No, I don't think I will, Lily. He spat at me, you saw it, and I think Snivelly could do with a bit of humility. He should understand just how hated he is and how much he scares the other students. I'm doing everyone a service here, Lils. Now leave off and let me get on with it."

Sirius shook off Lily's hands from his arm, turned around and was witness to David trying to prevent everyone seeing his underpants. The cold anger his mother had always tried to warn him about was growing as Sirius laughed and pointed out to the assembled students just how much of a loser Snape was.

"Couldn't even afford to use powder in the wash, though I suppose it's one up on wearing frilly knickers. Or, do you save those for special occasions, Snape?"

As David tried to protect what little dignity he could, he wondered to himself if the Unforgivables were invented by some poor sod tormented by the likes of the Gryffindor Marauders. As soon as he could concentrate to reverse a spell of his own invention, he'd show them all, even Lily who thought nothing of passing on one of the spells he'd invented. Lily had promised him that she'd never talk about them, yet she obviously had told someone. None of them cared, not even the teachers, who more often than not punished David when it was as a result of being goaded by the Gryffindor golden boys.

Blind hatred consumed David, further hindering his attempts to reverse the hex and beat the living shit out of Black. It'd be worth the long stay in the school Infirmary just to loosen as many of the pricks teeth as he could. The laughter of the other students fuelled that hatred even more, and the final humiliation was to hear Lily giggling before she tried to stop, mostly unsuccessfully.

"Sirius, put him down, please. You've had your fun, but enough is enough."

"No, Lils, he's had this coming for years. Not so easy to get out of it when you're not lurking in the shadows, is it, Snivellus? Maybe now you'll realise just how much you should be wary of me, you fucking faggot."

David screamed at that point, his humiliation complete when Lily didn't reverse the hex, but thought asking would achieve the same result. Finally concentrating, though David swore he could see spots in front of his eyes, he managed to reverse the spell and landed heavily on the ground at Black's feet.

Coughing and rubbing the left shoulder he'd landed on, David tried to stand, clutching handfuls of dirt and grass to throw in Black's face.

"Oh, and while you're down there, Snape, wipe that slime off my boots. These cost good money and having any part of you on them makes me worry that it'll eat through the leather. No, better yet, lick it off. You'll enjoy it," Sirius said, playing to the crowd which continued to grow.

"Probably the closest you'll ever get to anything that wasn't some wizards cast offs."

Crouching on his haunches, David listened to the laughter all around him, and then with an unfocused shout, he launched himself at Black, bringing him down heavily. As he pushed himself back on his haunches, David made sure he punched his tormenter in the bollocks with both hands.

It was, David decided, remarkably satisfying to hear Black squeal like a girl, all the while clutching his jewels as he rolled around the dusty patch of ground. David smirked, only to find himself face to face with Lily, a look of fury on her face as she poked him in the chest.

"What did you do that for, Sev? Why didn't you just leave while you had the chance? Punching Sirius there, of all places, that was cruel."

To further emphasise her point, Lily had stopped poking David and grabbed hold of his wand arm. David didn't even realise he'd pulled his wand, but Lily kept trying to push his forearm down so that his wand pointed at the ground.

"Enough, Sev. You should leave now, you've done enough."

David looked at Lily incredulously and, perhaps seeing her clearly for the first time, realised nothing he said or did would ever be good enough to snare the heart of Lily Evans.

"I'll leave when I'm good and ready, you filthy Mudblood." David said roughly, shaking Lily's hands from his right forearm.

All the colour drained from Lily's face, and she turned and fled, not even looking back when David tried to clear his throat and call after her.

Turning swiftly towards Black, Potter and the rest of the crowd, David's nose met Potter's fist with an awful wet crunching sound. The crowd of boys and girls closed in on him jeering, many of them slapping the hand of one fist with the other hand, or drawing their wands. Other than Potter, no one managed to pummel David as an authoritative clap and strange mist descended on everyone gathered, cutting through the rising voices gathered around him.

"Episkey!"

"Now, Mr Potter, if you could escort Mr Black to the Infirmary, I will deal with Mr Snape. As for the rest of you, twenty points will be taken from each of you. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Now, away with you!"

Another loud clap and Severus found everyone disappearing as quickly as rats up the proverbial drainpipe. Wiping his bloodied hands on his robes, David faced the Headmaster with his head bent to hide the hot tears threatening to fall, all the while waiting to find out what punishment he would be facing. His mum would never forgive him if he ended up expelled for fighting. Mind you, she'd be understandably irate to hear he'd used 'that' word against another student. In fact, David wasn't sure whom he feared more, Professor Dumbledore or his mum.

"My office I believe, Mr Snape. We have much to discuss, not least why you feel I shouldn't expel you for using that particular word towards another classmate."

Nodding his head, David picked up the book he'd been quietly reading and trailed behind the Headmaster all the way to his office, dreading just what Professor Dumbledore was planning to do to him behind closed doors.

~*~

It seemed to David as though he'd been scrutinised by Professor Dumbledore for a very long time, as the Headmaster sat behind his desk, his fingers steepled as he stared at the miscreant in front of him.

"So, Mr Granger, David, just what should I do with you? I confess I'm at a loss as to whether I shouldn't call on Eileen and let her deal with you instead. I'm not sure she deserves that though."

David's head shot up to hear the Headmaster call him by his real name, but it was the hard stare and look of anger behind his normally sparkling eyes that really chilled David to his core.

David cleared his throat and tried to speak several times, but merely croaked before he put his head in his hands and shook with silent tears.

"Ah, remorse is all very well, David, though how useful it is after the event is debatable. I've watched you all these years hoping you'd eventually find your niche within the school community, but today's spectacle... No, I don't think you'll ever find any true friends here, certainly not if you continue to use such derogatory words when you're angry. You've learnt some nasty habits in that nest of vipers it seems."

"I... I didn't mean to, sir. She laughed at me with the others and then blamed me for hanging around instead of leaving once I'd managed to reverse the spell. I need to go and apologise to her before you send me home."

Looking at the Headmaster earnestly, David continued speaking, almost trying to rationalise why he'd called Lily something he'd heard the other Slytherins' use under their breath towards any and all of the Muggle-born students.

"Why did she laugh? If she hadn't laughed like the others..." David trailed off, shaking his head slowly as he ran his hands through his hair tugging at the roots as if to clear his head.

"I've made a complete cock up of things, haven't I, sir? I'll go and pack my bags and leave. I've got friends at home and maybe Mum and Dad will send me to the local comprehensive. I've been studying the coursework in case, in case it all became too much."

David shut up, fully aware that he was rambling and becoming more and more panicked at the thought of having to explain just what he'd done to his mum. Dad might not understand a lot of it, but he'd express his disappointment as only his dad could.

"No, I think not, Mr Snape," Dumbledore said emphasising David's more commonly known name in the Wizarding world. "I think you'll just have to cope with the part of your schooling left as your mother hoped you would. She expended a lot of effort to get you safe, and to throw it all away now seems premature wouldn't you say?"

"You're not expelling me?" David couldn't hide the incredulous tone in his question.

"No, I'm not, but I have a task that only you can accomplish. You have a unique perspective on your housemates, and I find myself in need of those skills, if you're willing?"

"Anything, sir. I'll do anything to help you, but what could I do that someone like you couldn't?"

"I need someone to report on the goings on within the school, but most especially Slytherin House. There is a darkness descending on our world, Mr Snape, and I find myself at a loss of how to stay on top of certain activities. I need someone I can trust to report directly to me. After all, if this group of thugs takes control of our world, then your parents are targets. You don't want that, do you, David?"

"No, sir, but what can I do?"

"Well, you've conveniently ostracised yourself even further from your classmates. It seems you've made yourself a non-entity to a degree, a caricature of everything people fear, though I do recognise that Mr Black was the main catalyst as he appears to have been ever since your first year. That doesn't excuse your actions, but it does give you the perfect cover for what I need."

"But what happens if I get caught listening? They'll, they have no boundaries. What happens then, sir?"

"I have some tricks I can teach you to help you, David, but if you get caught, then you are, unfortunately on your own to a degree. The only person who will know of your actions will be me, and my successor if such is needed. No, I am asking you to risk your life for every single day, but then I was under the impression that you'd been doing this more or less since you climbed onboard the train in your first year. Perhaps I am mistaken."

"And if I choose not to do this, sir?"

"Well, then I would pack your bags, Mr Granger. I suspect that after I talk to Eileen, you will be back in Harrogate before morning."

David gaped at the corner that the Headmaster had deftly steered him into, all the while recognising that he could say no and face his mothers wrath, or say yes and perhaps find a way to rub everyone's nose into it once the task was done successfully.

Looking at Professor Dumbledore with a piercing look, David straightened up and nodded his head once decisively.

"A wise decision, David, a wise decision indeed."

~*~

Author Notes: This was written for Sunny33 for the recent 2012-13 SSHG Exchange, but could not be completed in time to post as my gift. The first part is complete, and the second in the process of being written. If you're looking for hawt sexxors, then this isn't the story for you. There is some swearing, along with the judicious use and misuse of canon.

Many thanks to the fabulous team of Scattered Logic and Magically25 who have helped me get the story to the stage it is at currently. Without their input, I doubt this would be half as good. I am truly very, very lucky to have had their continuing help. Any remaining mistakes (yes, my comma fetish) are mine alone.