Status: Finished :)
Taking Down the Sunrise
Fifteen
The Great Hall looked oddly empty with the absence of the house tables. The professor’s table, which was usually only mildly imposing, became a flare of power so potent that the two boys had no choice but to look away.
The only thing worse than the overbearing presence of the professor’s table were the disapproving stares that bore down from it. McGonagall’s eyes seemed to be almost glazed over, but her fury shone through like a circle of fire in a sea of black. Dumbledore’s expression was calm and yet he exuded an icy glow that made the two boys shiver. Slughorn, on the other hand, seemed as put off by the situation as the two boys and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
James cleared his throat and every set of eyes locked onto him, pinning him down to the floor. He gulped, but being a Gryffindor, bravery pushed away what nervousness he felt and he said clearly, “I don’t understand what I’m doing here. He hit me in the face. If you don’t believe me, maybe you shouldn’t have had Madam Pomfrey make the bruising disappear.”
The three teachers nodded simply and then turned to Severus. He met their gaze stoically and took a deep breath. In truth, speaking in front of them was quite a challenge. He had wasted his entire store of bravery on hitting James in the face and was now wondering if that was a waste of good energy.
“Professors, Headmaster, we all know that this isn’t really about us. We fight all the time, although the word ‘fight’ implies it is two-sided.” Severus took a deep breath, “Recently, I won over the girl of my dreams. Unfortunately, James’ dreams seemed to be the same as mine which I don’t really understand considering we’re complete opposites. But, what I’ve learned is that being passive really doesn’t solve anything and he’s been quite aggressive in trying to take her away. I just decided that it would be better to fight fire with fire, as they say.”
“Fighting fire with fire is said to be a bad thing,” Dumbledore replied calmly, “We have an odd situation on our hands. Most of the fighting we deal with in this school has to do with improper duelling done by petty enemies. When this fighting gets out of hand, we deal with it the way we would deal with any other punishment. Mr. Snape, you have taken your war with Mr. Potter one step too far and resulted to physical, Muggle violence. When this type of violence happens we call together a disciplinary committee made up of the Headmaster and the heads of house whose students are involved. You will both get a chance to speak and-”
“This is ridiculous! I didn’t do anything. He hit me!”
“‘He hit me! He hit me!’ You sound like a fucking parrot!”
“I am civilized, you fat-footed bastard! I was simply going to curse your brains out, but no, you just had to punch me first!”
“At least I don’t hide behind my wand!”
“You’re right, you don’t. You hide behind your cauldron so you can brew potions to make people do what you want. That’s how you got Lily to go out with you, isn’t it? A little love potion in her drink every morning? I would think even you were better than that.”
“How dare you! You Gryffindor gits don’t understand a fucking thing, do you? You think the only reason a girl wouldn’t pick you is because magic is at play. Well, guess what? It’s not that. It’s the fact that you are an insecure, arrogant, little bitch.”
“Like you’re so much better than me you Slytherin sack! There’s a reason you’re put in Slytherin and it’s because you’re fucking evil toad! Do you understand why I wouldn’t believe Lily loves you, bitch?”
“You went too far, bitch.”
“You’re the bitch.”
“Bitch.”
“Bitch.”
“Bi-”
“BOYS!”
James and Severus whipped their heads around as if the three professors had just arrived in the room. For the first time, James looked truly terrified whereas Severus simply went back to looking meek and apologetic.
McGonagall smoothed down her robes and somehow managed to focus her glare on both boys at once. “Your profanity is not well received, boys. Someday you will have to learn to control yourselves, but in the meantime, let’s get this over with. Mr. Potter, we’ll begin with your account of what happened.”
“Alright,” James cleared his throat and straightened out. He calmly faced the committee and pushed his fear out of his expression, “I was innocently doing Divination with my friend Remus when I was pulled backwards by the collar of my robe and someone started punching me. I was shocked and appalled and I tried to swing back, but he had me in a death grip and I-”
“Oh, come on. No one believes your shit,”
James shot Severus a wicked glare and said icily, “That is how it happened.”
Severus shook his head in disbelief and turned to the professors, “Would you like to hear the truth now?”
Dumbledore nodded.
“I was in the library with my girlfriend when she found a love note from James in her book. I was sick and tired of him getting everything. I wasn’t going to stand for his bullying anymore, so I marched right over to the Divination Tower and called him out. He was calm, and smug, but what else is new? We were going to do a traditional duel, but when he went to bow, I decided a duel really wouldn’t get my point across, so I punched him in the face. And instead of taking it like a man, he went down, went crying to the Hospital Wing and now here we are.”
“That doesn’t really put you in a better light,” James said snidely.
“It’s better than your pack of lies.”
“Oh, please, I didn’t even write that note. That dribble was all Remus’. I just put it on paper and gave it to her.”
“So not only do you not make your own threats, you also don’t make your own love notes? That’s just sad.”
“What threats?”
“I know you sent Sirius with the lighter.”
“What?”
Severus paused for a moment, “You honestly didn’t know Sirius tried to stop me from going out with Lily?”
James shook his head, “I love her and I will do anything to take her away from you, but I want her to be happy. And if that means going on dates with you, well... she has bad taste, but I’ll fix that.”
Laughter escaped from Severus’ lips and for the first time in five years, the two boys smiled at each other. “I don’t like you, but if ever Lily makes the mistake of going out with you, I promise I won’t send my friends to try and kill you.”
“And I’ll tell Sirius to lay off, but I’m not going to.”
“As long as you understand that I’m never going to give her up.”
“Neither am I.”
“Then we’re done here.”
James put out his hand. Severus shook it once and then dropped it as if he was afraid to catch something. The two boys then turned away from each other and looked up at the professors. Dumbledore smiled mischievously.
“You’re free to go.”
James and Severus nodded and then left the Great Hall together. When the doors closed behind them, they didn’t even wave goodbye. Severus headed for the dungeons to do his homework and wait for dinner. James headed up to the Gryffindor Tower to plan his next prank. Their only similarity was what made the greatest divide.
The only thing worse than the overbearing presence of the professor’s table were the disapproving stares that bore down from it. McGonagall’s eyes seemed to be almost glazed over, but her fury shone through like a circle of fire in a sea of black. Dumbledore’s expression was calm and yet he exuded an icy glow that made the two boys shiver. Slughorn, on the other hand, seemed as put off by the situation as the two boys and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.
James cleared his throat and every set of eyes locked onto him, pinning him down to the floor. He gulped, but being a Gryffindor, bravery pushed away what nervousness he felt and he said clearly, “I don’t understand what I’m doing here. He hit me in the face. If you don’t believe me, maybe you shouldn’t have had Madam Pomfrey make the bruising disappear.”
The three teachers nodded simply and then turned to Severus. He met their gaze stoically and took a deep breath. In truth, speaking in front of them was quite a challenge. He had wasted his entire store of bravery on hitting James in the face and was now wondering if that was a waste of good energy.
“Professors, Headmaster, we all know that this isn’t really about us. We fight all the time, although the word ‘fight’ implies it is two-sided.” Severus took a deep breath, “Recently, I won over the girl of my dreams. Unfortunately, James’ dreams seemed to be the same as mine which I don’t really understand considering we’re complete opposites. But, what I’ve learned is that being passive really doesn’t solve anything and he’s been quite aggressive in trying to take her away. I just decided that it would be better to fight fire with fire, as they say.”
“Fighting fire with fire is said to be a bad thing,” Dumbledore replied calmly, “We have an odd situation on our hands. Most of the fighting we deal with in this school has to do with improper duelling done by petty enemies. When this fighting gets out of hand, we deal with it the way we would deal with any other punishment. Mr. Snape, you have taken your war with Mr. Potter one step too far and resulted to physical, Muggle violence. When this type of violence happens we call together a disciplinary committee made up of the Headmaster and the heads of house whose students are involved. You will both get a chance to speak and-”
“This is ridiculous! I didn’t do anything. He hit me!”
“‘He hit me! He hit me!’ You sound like a fucking parrot!”
“I am civilized, you fat-footed bastard! I was simply going to curse your brains out, but no, you just had to punch me first!”
“At least I don’t hide behind my wand!”
“You’re right, you don’t. You hide behind your cauldron so you can brew potions to make people do what you want. That’s how you got Lily to go out with you, isn’t it? A little love potion in her drink every morning? I would think even you were better than that.”
“How dare you! You Gryffindor gits don’t understand a fucking thing, do you? You think the only reason a girl wouldn’t pick you is because magic is at play. Well, guess what? It’s not that. It’s the fact that you are an insecure, arrogant, little bitch.”
“Like you’re so much better than me you Slytherin sack! There’s a reason you’re put in Slytherin and it’s because you’re fucking evil toad! Do you understand why I wouldn’t believe Lily loves you, bitch?”
“You went too far, bitch.”
“You’re the bitch.”
“Bitch.”
“Bitch.”
“Bi-”
“BOYS!”
James and Severus whipped their heads around as if the three professors had just arrived in the room. For the first time, James looked truly terrified whereas Severus simply went back to looking meek and apologetic.
McGonagall smoothed down her robes and somehow managed to focus her glare on both boys at once. “Your profanity is not well received, boys. Someday you will have to learn to control yourselves, but in the meantime, let’s get this over with. Mr. Potter, we’ll begin with your account of what happened.”
“Alright,” James cleared his throat and straightened out. He calmly faced the committee and pushed his fear out of his expression, “I was innocently doing Divination with my friend Remus when I was pulled backwards by the collar of my robe and someone started punching me. I was shocked and appalled and I tried to swing back, but he had me in a death grip and I-”
“Oh, come on. No one believes your shit,”
James shot Severus a wicked glare and said icily, “That is how it happened.”
Severus shook his head in disbelief and turned to the professors, “Would you like to hear the truth now?”
Dumbledore nodded.
“I was in the library with my girlfriend when she found a love note from James in her book. I was sick and tired of him getting everything. I wasn’t going to stand for his bullying anymore, so I marched right over to the Divination Tower and called him out. He was calm, and smug, but what else is new? We were going to do a traditional duel, but when he went to bow, I decided a duel really wouldn’t get my point across, so I punched him in the face. And instead of taking it like a man, he went down, went crying to the Hospital Wing and now here we are.”
“That doesn’t really put you in a better light,” James said snidely.
“It’s better than your pack of lies.”
“Oh, please, I didn’t even write that note. That dribble was all Remus’. I just put it on paper and gave it to her.”
“So not only do you not make your own threats, you also don’t make your own love notes? That’s just sad.”
“What threats?”
“I know you sent Sirius with the lighter.”
“What?”
Severus paused for a moment, “You honestly didn’t know Sirius tried to stop me from going out with Lily?”
James shook his head, “I love her and I will do anything to take her away from you, but I want her to be happy. And if that means going on dates with you, well... she has bad taste, but I’ll fix that.”
Laughter escaped from Severus’ lips and for the first time in five years, the two boys smiled at each other. “I don’t like you, but if ever Lily makes the mistake of going out with you, I promise I won’t send my friends to try and kill you.”
“And I’ll tell Sirius to lay off, but I’m not going to.”
“As long as you understand that I’m never going to give her up.”
“Neither am I.”
“Then we’re done here.”
James put out his hand. Severus shook it once and then dropped it as if he was afraid to catch something. The two boys then turned away from each other and looked up at the professors. Dumbledore smiled mischievously.
“You’re free to go.”
James and Severus nodded and then left the Great Hall together. When the doors closed behind them, they didn’t even wave goodbye. Severus headed for the dungeons to do his homework and wait for dinner. James headed up to the Gryffindor Tower to plan his next prank. Their only similarity was what made the greatest divide.