SHIP: Snape's slide into the DE's

[Jen Reese]

No: HPFGUIDX 144410

Snape lovin' Lily has never worked for me, even finding out she was 
a natural at Potions, cheeky and could have been in Slytherin didn't 
convince me of Snape's unrequited love. Then JKR said post-HBP she 
was willing to tell fans if either Snape or Lupin had loved Lily. 
Well, she backed off before answering completely and only mentioned 
Lupin, but I think that was a hint there's nothing more coming about 
Snape and Lily of much significance. 
 
So I'm proposing a new theory about Snape's fall into temptation and 
ultimately the DE's, which includes a mysterious character who 
reappeared on the boards this week, Florence. Her story is old, 
check out the archives, but this is the first update the poor girl 
has had since before the release of OOTP. So in the spirit of fun 
and to honor all the great Florence theorists of the past, here's 
her new story. :)

*****NOTE: I'm connecting together bits of ambiguous canon we've 
never had a complete explanation for, mostly scenes from the 
Pensieve and Occlumency lessons. Please know there is speculation in 
places to fill gaps! It's long because it covers a lot of ground, 
but hopefully an easy read.******
 
First of all, the name Florence may call to mind Florence, Italy; it 
did for me until a search brought up the name Florence Nightingale. 
Oho! Known primarily for radical innovations in nursing care and her 
passion for statistics (logic), the real Florence was highly 
educated for her time. She was also remembered as a young girl who 
took care of sick and injured pets and people, a Healer from early 
on.
 
Florence and Severus were sorted into different houses at Hogwarts: 
Severus went to Slytherin, while Florence was sorted into 
Gryffindor. Florence quickly found a gang of girlfriends in her year 
who were all noted for being smart and magically talented; among 
them was her best friend, Lily Evans. 
 
Florence enjoyed popularity and good marks in classes like Potions 
and Arithmancy, which she hoped would lead to a career as a Healer. 
Severus meanwhile was floundering, he had a reputation as an oddball 
and greasy git, unliked by many outside his house. He earned the 
nickname Snivellus fairly early on, for "crying sometimes in front 
of his peers against his will, when he was hurt, thus 'wearing his 
heart on the sleeve' only to be ridiculed for it." (borrowed from 
Orna, post # 144291) When it came to curses and hexes though, Snape 
was way advanced beyond his peers and was able to give as good as he 
got.
 
Severus noticed Florence for being just as sharp as he was in 
Potions and Arithmancy, a class Severus expected to excel at given 
his skills in logic from his part-Muggle home (a fact he told no one 
during this time of Voldemort's rise to power). But he discovered 
Florence was also from a mixed Muggle/Wizard home when he overheard 
her talking to Lily one day in Potions. He also noticed Florence, 
much like himself, planned to be a Healer one day.
 
Flying lessons were his worst subject. Slytherins and Gryffindors 
shared the class and Snape's nemesis from practically the first day 
of school, James Potter, proved himself to be a flying ace early on. 
Even though Snape was a worthy opponent using his wand, his flying 
was dismal, made worse by the fact that the school brooms were old 
and anti-hex and anti-jinx spells were often faded and never 
replaced. James and his friend Sirius took great pleasure in 
catching Snape off-guard, using simple hexes which caused his broom 
to buck. Florence was in the class as well, and since she and her 
friends disapproved of the 'bullying toerags' in their year at 
Gryffindor, Florence would cheer Snape on to mount the bucking 
broomstick and spoil James' fun. Her support of him over fellow 
Gryffindors surprised and pleased Severus. It didn't take long 
before he invented a countercurse and the broom-bucking stopped.

While Florence thrived at Hogwarts in later years, Snape dovetailed. 
Voldemort was starting to recruit at Hogwarts via groups of 6th and 
7th year students in his old house, Slytherin, who put pressure on 
younger students to fight for the cause of pure-blood superiority. 
As tension from opposing sides grew stronger, the individual wars 
between students grew stronger as well. Severus felt the pull toward 
the older Slytherins, both for protection and because they were 
interested in learning new hexes and curses from him. His pride 
drove him to invent more and more clever spells and in exchange, one 
particular group of students who would all become DE's after leaving 
Hogwarts, helped him figure out ways to get back at those Gryffindor 
punks.
 
Florence noticed the change in Severus, noticed he had a dark 
brooding side that was growing and that his interest in DADA was 
taking over his interest in other classes. Often he was seen 
scribbling in his potions book, and a peek one day revealed that he 
was working on spells, not potions. Florence, with an eye toward 
reforming Severus, asked him to meet her behind the greenhouses, one 
of the few relatively safe places the two could meet away from 
prying eyes. Unfortunately Bertha Jorkins, an extremely nosy older 
Slytherin student, noticed the two walking across the grounds and 
was curious. She decided to follow. She didn't see the two talking 
earnestly, didn't hear Florence express to Severus how her interest 
in him was changing. All Bertha saw was Severus kissing Florence. 

Unable to contain herself as a gossip and a snoop, Bertha stored 
away the information and next time she saw Severus in the common 
room, she teased him about the kiss behind the greenhouse. Severus, 
furious at her and scared for the information to leak out, hexed her 
and earned detention. Bertha went immediately to Dumbledore to 
snitch on Snape, but Dumbledore waved her away--he was consumed with 
Voldemort's rise and didn't realize the future significance of the 
events, didn't realize how the one small incident and Bertha's 
gossip would change the future of so many lives. One day many years 
later, he would think back to the incident and feel a great weight 
of sadness that he hadn't done more at the time.

The sixth and seventh year gang of Slytherins were angry--what was 
Snape doing kissing a Half-Blood, practically a Mudblood from all 
accounts? Snape was told he had a choice to make and make quick--
drop the girl and everything would be OK, stay with her and his life 
would be hell. And Severus chose. He was sick of being weak, sick of 
being Snivellus. He wanted the power those older students had, and 
they needed him for his growing knowledge of dark magic. Snape 
decided to stop 'wearing his hear on his sleeve' that night, and 
started snubbing Florence. 
 
One day in fifth year, when Snape's skills had grown to the point 
where he was rarely defenseless against the Marauders (even without 
assistance of the gang of Slytherins, who were gone), James and 
Sirius took him two-on-one after an OWL exam. Severus was defending 
himself with a mix of his own created spells and other hexes, when 
suddenly Lily Evans intervened. While James' guard was down arguing 
with Lily, Severus hit James with one of his invented nonverbal 
spells, Sectumsempra. He was pleased to see a gash appear on James' 
cheek, before finding himself hoisted up by another of his own 
spells, Levicorpus. He heard the laughter of the other students and 
even caught a smile twitching at the sides of Lily's mouth. Furious, 
embarrassed and hating all of them at the moment, when James 
insinuated that Lily was the reason he removed the curse a few 
minutes later, Snape lashed out at Lily "I don't need help from 
filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lily grew cold, James furious, but the worst part was the moment 
Severus noticed Florence over Lily's shoulder, where she had come up 
to watch the proceedings and give Lily moral support. Severus saw 
Florence's face turn white at the invective Snape yelled out, saw 
her slowly turn away and walk back to the lake with the other girls. 
Not long after, Snape noticed Florence and Sirius flirting in the 
Great Hall and he felt his heart close with hatred and vengeance. 

Determined to get the Marauders into serious trouble and perhaps get 
them expelled if possible, Snape took to tailing them. He noticed 
once a month that Lupin was escorted across the grounds alone to the 
Whomping Willow. On one occasion, while watching Lupin taken from 
the castle, Sirius Black happened upon Snape's hiding place and 
realized he'd seen Lupin. Sirius egged Snape on, called him a coward 
and a fool and dared him to follow. Snape decided to take the 
dare......

Jen, thinking the rest, as they say, is history.