Capítulo 16: Chapter Sixteen: The Snakes Strike
"YOU'RE POSITIVE THAT THIS WILL WORK, SEVERUS?" The cold, harsh voice of Regulus Black caused a shiver to climb down Severus' back. The menacing boy loomed over the older boy as his bleach blonde sidekick stood at his side. The two stared down at Severus and looked just about ready to tear into the poor boy like savages if he said the wrong thing.
The dark, icy corridor was almost completely empty. The trio of Slytherins was pressed up in a corner as the two more menacing of the three peered down at the third. Severus was stuck between Regulus and Lucius in front of him with the stone wall pressed up against his back. His brow was covered in a nervous sweat as he fiddled with the ends of his robes.
Severus nodded his head vigorously, "y-yeah, It will. As long as she uses it today and you get to her before the effects wear off then it will work."
The greasy-haired boy was shaking in fright before the two boys. The other two were pleased to see the fear that they enlisted in Severus. It was always so wonderful to see that they held such power over someone else. The pathetic teen that submitted to them so easily brought such pleasure and pride into them in a sickening way. What kind of person would be pleased to know that they instilled fear in someone else?
Regulus and Lucius nodded their heads in understanding, "give it to her then." The older blonde demanded of their lackie, "make sure that she gets it before the game today."
Severus nodded his head once again in the same rushed manner. Regulus smirked, "good, by the end of today, that little mudblood will be ours." His pale lips were pulled back in a sick smirk that was mirrored by Lucius. Severus only shook in fear at their expressions. Everything he had strived to stop from happening… was slowly coming together.
---
The weekend for the Hogwarts students had begun with such excitement. There was a quidditch game scheduled for that Saturday morning between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Of course, all of the Gryffindors were yelling and shouting about their soon-to-be victory against the house of know-it-alls. The Great Hall was full of loud students, specifically at the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables. The Hufflepuffs and Slytherins were far quieter and annoyed with their peers' loudness.
Students from the other two houses were most likely not going to see the game that morning. If a certain house was not playing during a game then the students of that house didn't see a reason to go to the game their team was not playing at. Of course, there were a few exceptions for students who had friends in other houses. However, the game today was certainly going to just be between students of the Gryffindor house and Ravenclaw house.
The year was slowly coming to an end and the quidditch games were decreasing every month. Even if the weather was slowly growing warmer and clearer as flower bloomed and trees began to bud, winter turned into spring and spring was going to turn into summer quite quickly. Summer only meant the end of the school year!
Lily was one of the students who weren't as excited about the match for the day. Much like she forced her friends to study for their classes, Iris and the other girls had decided to force her to go to the quidditch match. The younger redhead wasn't much of a sports fan of either muggle sports or wizarding sports. She never really found them to be appealing in any way. She never played one and had no intention of doing so or even watching a game if she could avoid it. However, like the last few Gryffindor matches, there was no way that Lily could avoid this one.
First, Iris was one of the biggest fans of quidditch that Lily had ever come to know. Iris had become obsessed with the game as soon as she learned about it when they first attended wizarding school. There was no way that Iris was going to miss out on one of the last matches of the year. Second, it was Ravenclaw that they were competing against! Marlene was not going to miss the chance to see William Hanning play, even if it was against her own house. Of course, Wendy had the same outlook on sports just as Lily. However, she was a tad bit more willing to go outside and watch the game with her friends and hang out with them. She may not enjoy sports, but she was willing to endure the loud crowds if it meant having a fun time with her friends. Which Lily could agree with.
Lily was currently getting up from her seat in the Great Hall. Iris had already run out of the hall to head to the Quidditch pitch to get good seats, Marlene went along with her so she could get a good seat to see William best, and Wendy had gone back to the dorms to grab herself a sweater. Even though it was summer, Wendy still had the ability to get cold easily. It was quite weird, honestly.
The redhead started to make her way towards the exit of the hall to go find her friends and sister when a figure blocked her way. She came face to face with a teenage boy who she had only a slight dislike for. It wasn't Potter, obviously. That insufferable boy was getting ready for the match and most likely already at the pitch. No, it was Severus Snape.
The meek boy stood in a hunched manner as it appeared he wanted to disappear at that very moment. He looked anywhere but she and everything about him in that moment screamed nervousness. The greasy-haired boy fiddled with his hands and the ends of his robes and tried to calm himself down through deep breaths.
Lily glared at him slightly though it wasn't as harsh as they had been for a while. She was starting to come to a standstill with her anger towards the Slytherin teen. Yes, Severus deserved the hatred in her eyes. However, it was becoming tiring to have to stay mad at him. He made one simple mistake! One that could easily be ratified through apologizing quite a bit. Yet this was Iris that she was referring to. A simple apology isn't going to do much for her. Iris is known for her temper and ability to hold grudges, not to mention, her knack for blowing things out of proportions sometimes.
"H-hi, Lily…" Severus' voice cracked.
Lily bit the inside of her cheek, "Severus."
The ice in her voice pierced the boy's skin and caused him to flinch. He would never grow used to the way that Lily and Iris looked at him. He could feel the hate-filled daggers stabbing his body, and he didn't like it. However, he knew that he deserved every glare and malice word. It was his fault that they would hate him when they found out what he had been doing. There was no if they found out… he knew that they would find out about the plan sooner or later. Their relationships would then become nonexistence.
"I really wanted to talk to you," the boy squeaked out with a soft voice. Lily only continued to stare at him. He licked his lips, "I just want to ask for forgiveness-"
"You've been trying to do that for a while now."
Severus nodded his head hastily, "yes, yes. I just- Well, I-" He took a deep breath to gather his words. The calculating stare that Lily was shooting him wasn't really helping his attempt to calm down. "I really don't know how to start this."
Lily tsked, "why not with an apology?"
Severus gulped, "right, yes." He cleared his throat, "Lily, I am so so sorry, for everything that I've done." Lily's gaze softened. "I wish Iris was here so I can apologize to her too because she deserves the biggest one I can ever give anyone."
Lily smiled slightly at his words, "you really mean that, Sev?"
Severus tried to flash her a believable, genuine smile as his heart clenched at the use of his nickname. He succeeds and was able to hide his grimace that wanted to settle on his face, "you know me, Lily. I just want to fix our friendship. Iris is like my sister and I hate the fact that we're fighting like this." Oh, those words felt like poison on his lips. They burned his throat as they crawled outward and scratched his esophagus on their journey as they fell out clumsily. He did want to fix his relationship with Iris and Lily. While Iris was like his sister… Lily was obviously something more to him. Ever since they became friends, the boy had grown a very strong attachment to the younger twin. He may be young but he would go even far to say that she loved Lily Evans. Due to the strain in his relationship with Iris, stress had been placed on the one between himself and Lily. He didn't like that, at all. The twins had become a big part of his life, a sister and a… whatever Lily was to him. To lose them would be devastating. However, the actions that he was currently taking were in no way helping his attempt of fixing those relationships.
Lily smiled slightly at that as she believed him wholeheartedly, "you just want to make it better with her?"
Severus held in a flinch and kept the smile on his face, "exactly."
Lily pondered for a moment. To her, it seemed to be that Severus really wanted to fix everything with Iris and her, and Lily was willing to help him. All of this had gone on long enough already. It was time for reconciliation!
Severus dug through his pockets hastily and pulled out a bottle of his familiar and infamous perfumes. Lily smiled at that. Severus was very skilled with potions and she didn't find it to be surprised that he was able to make something like a simple perfume. Plus, she did like the smell of them quite a bit.
"Oh, you want to give her another perfume?" Severus nodded his head, "are you sure that you should? Iris hasn't been really willing to use them…" Lily couldn't help but notice how Iris had been adamant about not using the perfumes that Severus had been gifting them. She really didn't know why she didn't want to use them. Yes, Iris wasn't the girliest girl there is and wouldn't normally use something like perfume, but Lily would think that Iris would use something that was a gift from a close friend. Granted she was holding a grudge against Severus, but Lily would think that if Iris wanted to make things better between them she would accept Severus' gifts.
Severus gulped, "I know, but I really think that this is perfect for her." He didn't really need to come up with a good reason for his "gift". From what he could observe of Lily at that moment, she was willing to do anything to help him fix his relationship with Iris.
"You do know that she is quite suspicious about your perfumes," Lily commented as they started to walk through the corridor to a quieter place now that more students were filing out of the Great Hall. "For some reason."
"Then don't tell her it's from me!" Severus exclaimed quickly, "I just really want her to have it…"
"Okay, okay." She took the glass bottle that was filled with the clear liquid. "I'll give it to her, and I won't tell her it's from you." She thought that if she did that Iris may be slightly more inclined to take it. Then when Severus tried to fix their relationship he could tell her that he was the one to make it. That fact may possibly help convince Iris to consider mending what was left between the two of them. That's what she hoped for anyway.
Severus sighed out in relief at her agreement, "thank you, Lily. This means a lot to me."
Lily smiled softly, "hopefully now everything can go back to normal!"
Her optimism only caused his stomach to sink further, "yeah… I hope so."
---
Lily skipped through the corridors on her way to the Gryffindor tower. The conversation that she had with Severus had put her in good spirits. The prospect of fixing the fractured relationship between herself, Iris and Severus gave her a sense of optimism. They could finally put the simple mistake that Severus made behind them and make up for lost time together.
As she was walking through the portrait hole after giving the Fat Lady the password, a shout greeted her in the common room. "Come on, Marlene!" Her twin sister shouted up the stairs to their friend, "we won't get good seats if you don't hurry up!"
"Hey, Iris!" Lily said happily as she came to stand next to her nearly identical twin. A wide smile was stretched across her pale lips and display her straight, pearly white teeth. "What are you doing up here? I thought you already went down to the game."
Iris wrinkled her nose slightly, "we were. But somebody forgot to get her flag!"
Marlene then came down the stairs with said Gryffindor flag that she had accidentally left on her bed. "Well, sorry, miss. Impatient. The game doesn't even start for another fifteen minutes, we have plenty of time to get back to our seats." She shrugged her shoulders.
Iris huffed, "doesn't matter, I wanted to stay down there to see the teams practice before the game."
"We don't always get what we want!"
As Iris and Marlene were arguing with each other slightly, Lily pulled out the perfume that Severus had given her out of her satchel. She held the small bottle for a moment as she allowed the two girls in front of her to bicker for a moment longer. Just as she saw that the argument was going to go around in circles (like usual), she cleared her throat.
The two bickering girls paused to look at the younger redhead who seemed to be bouncing on the balls of her feet. A broad smile was on her lips as her pearly, whites were on display. "Stop fightin' with each other over a flag," the amusement of the situation was getting to her. She thrust her hand forward to show the two the clear bottle of perfume that she had. "Here, Iris. I got this for you!"
At the sight of the bottle, Iris just about hissed in distaste. It looked almost exactly like the ones that Severus had been giving her nearly all year. Why Lily was suddenly trying to give her one was suspicious on its own to Iris. She knew to be careful with snakes like him. If Severus had been able to get to Lily, then Iris was going to have a fun time cursing the boy into next week.
"Where did you get that, Lily?"
Lily could instantly hear the skepticism in Iris' voice. It honestly wasn't going to help that Iris was reluctant to take any sort of perfume that was given to her. She suspected that every perfume was evil, mainly because of Severus. This silly quarrel was just causing the most absurd assumptions to be made, in Lily's opinion. What could a simple perfume do?
"Hogsmeade!" She lied smoothly. She could only thank Iris for her knack of lying so quickly, they do learn a few things from each other every once and a while. "I got it last weekend and I tried it out. I don't really like it that much, but I think that you will!" Her over-enthusiasm may be throwing up some red flags for Iris, Lily realized. However, she did her best to try and seem casual under her sister's narrow-eyed gaze.
"Really?" Iris tsked, "where in Hogsmeade?"
"Madam Puddifoot sells more than just tea and such."
Iris pursed her lips and turned her gaze towards the bottle. It did look like the ones that Severus' had been giving her, and she was completely uncertain if she could trust Lily at this moment. She knew that Lily was less aggravated with Severus than herself and that she wanted to make things right between them. Yes, Iris wanted to do the same, however, the perfumes added something completely different into the mix. She didn't know what they did, yet she knew that there was something weird with them. Of course, she didn't have any proof of that, but she had a very strong hunch about them.
"Oh?" Iris scoffed.
Lily sighed and exclaimed in exasperation., "I don't see why you don't believe me!" She allowed her eyes to display a small lick of betrayal. If she did that then Iris would start to feel bad about accusing her or insinuating that Lily was lying to her. Granted, Lily technically was lying to her, but she could just use that to her advantage.
Iris' narrowed brown eyes surveyed her sister and zeroed in on the perfume in her hand. She took a deep breath, "you got it from Hogsmeade? Not from Severus, right?"
"Of course, I know you don't like Severus right now! I wouldn't do that to you!" Oh, she was lying through her perfect white teeth.
Her nearly identical sister hesitantly took the bottle from her, and Lily couldn't help herself but smile widely at her. It seemed like her scheme to get Iris to take the bottle had worked perfectly. "I'll take it, but if I find out that this has anything to do with Severus-"
"You'll hex not only me but him as well, you have nothing to worry about!" She was just about bouncing on her heels. "Why don't you use it now?"
Iris' eyebrows furrowed as she grew suspicious of her enthusiastic words, but she brushed it off for the moment. "And why would I use it now?"
"I'm sure Sirius would love for you to use a perfume like this."
"Why do you- never mind, I don't care why you want me to wear it for Sirius." She took an apprehensive look at the bottle and a glance at Lily. Her twin was smiling encouragingly, and Iris couldn't help herself but believe that Lily was telling the truth. The girls ever rarely lied to each other. If Lily did lie, then Iris would dish her out a punishment. However, Lily was the less likely out of the two to actually lie especially to her. She could trust her sister. "Whatever…" She opened up the top of the bottle and started to spray it onto her pale neck.
Lily just about squealed out loud at that but was able to keep it in. She could only hope that Iris would love the perfume and then later she could tell her the truth. Yes, lying to her did hurt Luly just a bit, but she could live with herself for the moment.
Iris took a deep breath in order to smell the perfume… but she couldn't smell anything. It was strange, there was no scent from the actual perfume. She sprayed it on herself once again to hopefully smell something only to earn the same result.
She looked at Lily, "I don't-"
"Oh, that smells lovely," Marlene commented as she took the bottle from Iris to examine it. "Next time we go to Madam Puddifoot's, Lily, you have to show me where you bought it!"
Lily nodded her head, "no worry, I will. Now, don't we have a quidditch match to get to." She then spun on her heels in an obvious scene of glee and headed for the exit. The other two followed after her as Iris tucked the perfume into her pocket and got ready for the match. However, her eyes twitched slightly as a sharp pain suddenly hit her in the back of her head. She brushed it off. There was something far more important to focus on, quidditch!
---
The trio of girls was rushing through the corridors to head to the pitch outside. The game was no doubt about to start, and Iris was cursing Marlene's inability to remember grabbing the flag before. Honestly, if it wasn't for Marlene, Iris was certain that she would be cheering on Gryffindor as the teams finished up their short before game practice or joking around with Remus and Peter.
She really couldn't wait to actually see the game. She had seen only a few matches due to her detentions over all of the weekends that the matches happened. Thank Merlin that Iris refrained herself from pulling any pranks that would have drawn the attention of a teacher.
Just as the girls were rounding a corner that would lead towards the entrance of the pitch, they came face to face with a bleach-blonde snake.
Iris scowled as she ran smack dab in the middle of Lucius' chest. The slimy teenager smirked down at the redhead that shouted in disgust and jumped away from him hastily. "Lucius!" She shouted with so much malice dripping from her voice like venom.
"Ah, if it isn't our favorite redhead." His smirk sent a wave of nausea through Iris' stomach. Even more so, her head was killing her! She took sharp deep breaths to control herself. "My, don't you smell wonderful, Iris."
She just wanted to puke all over that moronic Slytherin, and she just might with how her stomach felt and her head was swimming as she stood there trying to glare the best she could at him. "Oh, leave us be Malfoy!"
The two of them stared at each other intently as icy, dull blue eyes searched inside of hazy, enraged brown eyes. It only lasted for a moment when Marlene pulled Iris away from Lucius and placed herself in between the two along with Lily.
"Leave us alone, Lucius! Don't you have something else to do?" Lily asked with a grimace.
Lucius seemed to become irritated and angered as he glared at Marlene. Neither of the girls could tell if he was angered because they had pulled Iris away or for some other reason. Though it wasn't like they cared, at all.
"Come on, let's go," Marlene said as she pushed Lucius away and to the side. He allowed himself to be pushed away as the trio walked past him with scowls. However, Iris' scowl was slightly strained as her body just seemed to have suddenly become sick!
He watched them go and cursed, "I'm going to kill that half-blood." He spun on his perfectly polished dress shoes and marched away in order to find his partners in crime. Well, one was his partner the other was more of his slave than anything.
Iris groaned as she was lead away by her sister and friend. Marlene took a glance at her and instantly became concerned from the way that Iris had become so pale since they had left the dorms. It was quite unsettling.
"You alright, Iris?" Marlene asked but didn't pause in their walking.
Iris took a deep breath and smiled, "perfectly fine and ready for the quidditch match!" She cheered with the most convincing voice that she could. It seemed to work when Marlene nodded and focused back onto the top of the game. Each of them seemed to want to forget that they had even run into Lucius only a few moments. Marlene instantly started to babble about William and getting to see him to play while Lily listened to her quick and excitement-filled words.
Iris did her best to try and focus on the conversation, that was really just Marlene ranting about the boy, yet had a hard time doing it. Her stomach had settled down slightly as her head was a tad bit clearer before but there was still some terrible feeling that settled in her body. Perhaps seeing Lucius' disgusting face had made her sudden sickness worse, and now that he was gone, she was starting to feel better. That's all it was. It was Lucius' fault.
---
The loud crowd of students and faculty all shouted and cheered as the quidditch match went on. It had been nearly forty minutes of gameplay and Ravenclaw was currently in the lead with one hundred and thirty points and Gryffindor only had seventy points. Currently, Sirius, a Gryffindor beater, was batting away a bludger as it was aimed at one of the team's chasers and James was frantically searching for the snitch.
It always amazed Iris how seekers, like James, were able to even see the snitch. That bloody little thing moved way too fast for her eyes to even focus on it properly. It really was only a quick glint of gold when the light caught it, at least to Iris. However, Gryffindor really needed to catch it before Ravenclaw. They were behind in points by quite a lot and there was no doubt that Ravenclaw would take a large lead over them. At that point, it wouldn't matter if James caught the snitch!
That was probably why Iris was fiddling with the scarf around her neck in anxiety. Oh, she was really into this game! She usually got like this, especially whenever she listened to the matches involving the Chudley Cannons.
"Come on, James!" Iris shouted along with her peers around her, "find that bloody snitch!"
Marlene cheered when William stopped the quaffle from going into his team's goal. That act earned her a few glares from her fellow Gryffindors. "Yes! William! Woo!"
Wendy nudged her friend, "hey! You have to support your own house, don't you know."
The brunette just rolled her eyes, "Oh, shush."
"Even Lil is cheering on our team." Iris pointed to her sister on the other side of Marlene who was clapping along with a chant that had started up.
"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"
Iris turned to Remus, who was on her left side, and Peter, who was beside him, with a large excited smile. "Do you think that they'll win this one?"
Remus shrugged his shoulders but didn't let his smile slip, "not sure, but there's no doubt that they'll go down without a fight." Iris could agree with that. There was no way that the team, or Sirius and James for that matter, would go down quietly.
The teams continued to battle with each other. The chasers fought with each other, the beaters protected them and aimed the bludger at the opposing team, and the seekers kept their eyes alert for the snitch. There were so much anxiety and suspense hanging in the air that Iris was certain that she was suffocating in it. Then again, that may just be her head messing with her again. Yes, her headache hadn't gone away, and, honestly, she didn't think that it would have.
Everyone held their breath as James zoomed off in one direction, most likely after the snitch. The Ravenclaw seeker followed after him to hopefully get a glimpse of the snitch but it seemed to be too late. James shouted in triumph as he slowed down on his broom and held the snitch up in victory. Gryffindor had now won with a score of two hundred and twenty!
Every single person that was rooting for the team was on their feet shouting and celebrating. That included the quartet of girls who cheered loudly and allowed their voices to blend in with the collection of their peers. Of course, the Ravenclaws looked a bit put out at a loss, but it wasn't the end of the world. If Gryffindor had lost, there was no doubt that they would be sore losers. Slytherin and Gryffindor were the biggest competitors when it came to quidditch matches throughout the year.
They watched as the Gryffindor team all flew to the pitch and started to congratulate each other on the win. That's when the students started to spill onto the field as well. They rushed to the team members and bombarded them with pats on the backs and hugs. Iris happened to throw herself onto James and Sirius when she was able to get close enough to congratulate them. Marlene and Wendy did the same, but Lily didn't. She settled with a simple pat on the back for both of them. Of course, Remus and Peter congratulated them happily as well after Iris had let go of them from her bone-crushing hug.
Everyone was high with the victory and ready to head to the common room to celebrate properly. However, as everyone started to make their way towards the castle, Iris noticed that something was missing from her neck.
"My scarf!" She shouted and glanced around in order to find it.
Sirius turned to her when he noticed that she lagged behind, "come on, love. We've got to head to the common room."
Iris turned to him with wide eyes, "I lost my scarf. I must've left it in the stands by accident." Sirius raised his eyebrows. It was just a scarf, as far as he knew she could get a new one. "My mum made it for me last year, I can't lose it."
That made sense. Sirius nodded his head in understanding, "I'll help you go find it."
The redhead just smiled at him, "no, it's fine, I can get it myself. You've got to get to the party that is no doubt going to start."
"Let them start partying, I just want to make sure that you find your scarf."
The sweet gesture brought a soft pink glow onto Iris' cheeks, "darling, I can find my scarf myself." She wrapped her arms around his neck when he was close enough and smirk, "I'll be there in just a bit, alright?"
Sirius stared at her and fought within himself. He didn't want to leave her alone for too long. Considering neither he or anyone else would be going with her. He didn't want her to be alone, at all! What if those slimy snakes were somewhere, lurking and waiting for her?
"I'll be fine," Iris pecked his lips and smirked at the dazed look on his face as he broke out of his thoughts. "Just a minute."
Sirius cleared his throat, "okay, I'll meet you in the common room then."
Iris giggled and kissed him once more, "be back in a minute."
Sirius watched as she skipped away to find her scarf. If only he had noticed the pair of beady eyes watching them part. If only he had gone against her words and went with his gut to go with her. If he did… Things certainly have turned out different.
---
Iris made her way towards the stairs that lead up to the stands that were high in the sky. She was just about ready to step up the first step when a voice caused her to stop dead in her tracks. "Iris?"
The voice was timid and not confident whatsoever. It was a voice that Iris was completely familiar with as she had been hearing ever since she was ten-years-old. A scowl placed itself on her face as she took a breath to control herself. The headache was slowly coming back as she turned around to glare at the boy obviously following her.
She could see in the shadows of the stands that Severus Snape was fiddling with his hands and the end of his black jumper. He kept his head bowed and didn't look in her direction at all. He looked like he wanted to be swallowed up in the darkness and disappear from standing in front of her. He blocked the entrance of the stairs, but Iris was certain that she could push past him to get out. It wasn't like Severus was capable of stopping her. He was pretty weak. Pathetic.
"What do you want, Severus?" Iris growled, "I thought I said to not talk to me."
Severus nodded his head meekly but didn't look up to her. Iris wasn't sure if it was in shame or fear, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do now was find her scarf and march herself out of his presence. Though before he could respond or she can walk away, a set of footsteps stopped either of them from doing anything. The two of them looked up the creaky, wooden stairs to see a silhouette coming down them. Iris was able to catch a glimpse of her scarf held snuggly in the figure's hands.
For a moment, she was quite relieved to see that someone had found her scarf. However, as soon as the person standing in the light, Iris just about screamed.
Gelled, short black hair shimmered in the sunlight while cruel grey eyes were exposed to the pair at the bottom of the stairs. His large smirk churned Iris' insides as her body started to become sick once again.
The redhead hissed loudly at him in complete hatred. "Regulus."
The younger boy just stared her in the eye triumphantly. It was as if he had just won the lottery from the way that he was confidently strutting down the stairs to stand in front of her and Severus. She didn't even turn around to see that Severus was completely pale with his head bowed in nothing but shame.
Regulus clicked his tongue, "you sound unhappy to see me, Iris."
The girl shivered in disgust at the way that he said her name and bile to rise up in the back of her throat. Or was that just her stomach acting up again. Being around Regulus, Lucius and Severus were certainly not doing anything good for her health… she could only wonder why.
She coughed in order to stop herself from throwing up right there. She ran a hand through her hair and noticed that they were shaking. In fact, her entire body was slowly starting to shake. Her nose began to be clogged up with a smell that she could not identify but she found so enticing. Perhaps she could finally smell the perfume but why was she able to smell it now.
She tried to keep her appearance strong and confident as she was under his intense stare. He seemed to be far more self-assured about something that she had no clue about. She only kept herself glaring at him. However, as he descended the stairs and came to stand right in front of her, she found her senses completely dulled as she focused on the boy in front of her.
"Just give me my scarf…" She tried to keep her voice strong, but it was slowly losing its edge and disgust aimed towards him. It was becoming softer with every word that she said.
The boy's smirk only seemed to grow wider and Iris thought that his face was about to split in half. "Oh," he looked down at the purple fabric in thought, "this? This is yours?"
Iris could only find herself nodding in reply as her legs began to shake. Her eyes were glued to Regulus' face as he turned back to her. He looked back up to her and locked eyes with her. The black-haired boy stepped closer to her and Iris did her best to take at least one step back. It seemed to take everything in her power to take that single step back. There was a part of her that didn't want to move, and that completely terrified her. It was like there was an internal fight within herself about whether or not Regulus was disgusting.
What in Merlin's name is going on?!
Regulus only continued his forward stalk and came to stand so close that Iris could smell his horrid cologne. He didn't tower over her as he was younger than her and they were just about the same height. However, she was slowly becoming intimidated by him as he leered at her through his dark lashes.
"Yes…" She breathed out as they had yet to break their stares. "Now… give it to me…" She reached out to grab it from him only for him to grab her wrist and halt her. Iris didn't fight back. She couldn't. She honestly couldn't find herself fighting against him.
"I'll give it to you, but I want a reward for finding it."
Iris' mind was completely blank. It was as if she forgot who exactly she was talking to. "What do you want?" This wasn't Iris! She lost all her confidence, disgust and hatred that she held only a few moments ago. Instead, she had transformed into a shaking, quiet, insecure girl who trembled under the stare of the boy she loathed the most. Though at that moment it was as if she forgot that Regulus Black was the boy who had become like a plague to her throughout the year.
Severus only watched from the archway of the staircase. His eyes were filled with regret and self-hatred. Oh, he hated himself at that moment so much. In fact, he had been hating himself ever since the other Slytherin boys had first told him what to do. If only he was stronger! If only he could stand up for himself and his friends then maybe this wouldn't have happened. But that was the past. Now, he had to watch as his pseudo-sister changed completely because of his own concoction. He had screwed up completely and ruined any chance he had fixing their relationship the moment he took them up on their demands.
Regulus leaned towards her, "what does every boy want?" He stopped himself from chuckling out loud as he watched to girl's eyes become lidded and in a trance. She was right where he wanted her. He had finally achieved his goal. "A kiss from a beautiful girl like you."
Iris couldn't say anything. Her mind was fuzzy, her eyes were solely focused on Regulus, and her entire body was on the verge of collapse. "...Really?"
Regulus didn't answer. He only ducked his head down and pulled the dazed girl into a kiss. It wasn't heated like the ones that his brother was able to dish out to the many girls he had seduced. Though it wasn't a simple kiss either. It seemed that, just like Sirius, Regulus had some experience with girls.
Iris was rigid and didn't know what to do. There was a part of her that was screaming so loud. The deafening scream was rattling in the back of her head and begging to push the boy away. However, ever so slowly, it was being silenced and pushed away itself. Soon enough it was locked away like an animal as new thoughts swarmed her head. Thoughts that weren't her own.
Regulus dropped Iris' scarf and wrapped his arms around Iris' waist to draw her in closer. Iris, completely under his control, submitted to the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck and indulge herself in the kiss.
They then pulled away and Regulus stared at the girl who still had her eyes closed and completely breathless. It was done. He got what he wanted. Iris opened up her eyes once again and they had completely lost their spark and were now dull and submissive. There was no way that Iris would fight against him and that was marvelous. Sure, the potion didn't work with Lucius. Perhaps it just needed a far more superior wizard to activate it on her. Maybe her hatred for him had fueled it far more than it did with Lucius. Regulus didn't care. All that he did care about was that it worked, and he could only thank their trusty potion maker for that.
He glanced at Severus with a wide smirk. Said boy looked sick and ready to throw up. He wrapped his arm around Iris' shoulder and started to lead her towards the exit. Severus moved out of the way and stared at them mournfully. "See you later, Severus."
He shivered at his words as Regulus walked off with Iris plastered to his side. It made him sick to watch a snake like him walk off with his best friend in his arms. As much as he didn't like it, Severus would much rather see her in Sirius' arms then his younger brother. At least then he would know that Sirius wasn't going to hurt her.
He turned back to the fallen scarf and hurried over to it. He picked it up and brushed off the grass and dirt that had gotten onto it. He recognized the scarf. In fact, he had one of his own as Mrs. Evans had made him, Iris and Lily for last Christmas. He held the scarf sightly and remorsefully teared up. He ruined everything! Iris was in danger and he just let it happen. It's all his fault! His fault!
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