The Butterfly Effect

A/N: I've finally reached the word limit for the challenge :) But don't worry, I'm continuing the story, I expect it to end up much much longer than this :) However, after this chapter, I can't guarantee fast updates, and they definitely wont be as fast as these first 4 chapters. At the longest, I'll have to wait until the end of my exams in mid May, but if I have any free time before then I'll try and get some more written :)

Part 4

As his work load increased, Severus felt as if it may be more practical for him to permanently move into the library. He was there almost every day, reading up on some spell or researching alternate ways to make potions. Often he was accompanied by either Lily or Darnell, and very occasionally both, although during the past few weeks, Evander had slowly drifted away from their group, weighed down with his workload. He would still occasionally sit with them during mealtimes, or in the common room, but most of the time Severus spotted him sitting alone, working, and occasionally with Mulciber.

Severus was walking with Darnell, returning from the library after a long day working on a complicated potions essay, chatting amicably about the upcoming Christmas holidays. Darnell was returning home, to his family in London, whilst Severus was staying at Hogwarts, unwilling to return home and instead planning on using the library to get started on next terms work.

He heard footsteps approaching; belonging to voices he recognised immediately; Mulciber and Evander. He couldn't hear their exact words, but the tone did not sound pleasant. He grabbed Darnell's arm, and pulled them backwards into a tapestry that he knew from his wanderings in first year concealed a secret archway. It was not very large, it looked more like a passageway to another room which had long since caved in, but it concealed them from the corridor and still allowed them to hear the conversation, which was more than he hoped for.

"Where are we going?" he heard Evander ask.

"To the library," Mulciber replied, his tone unpleasant.

"I'm not stupid, you know," Evander snapped, "There's no reason for you to literally drag me to the library. I can walk myself."

Mulciber did not answer. The voices stopped, but their footsteps continued to echo through the corridor, they were still a distance away from the tapestry they were hidden behind. Severus strained his ears, thinking he heard another voice. A few seconds later, there was the scuffling sound.

Darnell was about to step forward, when Severus held him back. "You're a Slytherin! Do you have no sense of self-preservation?" he hissed.

Before he could answer back, a door slammed shut and the corridor was quiet.

Later that evening, Severus found himself on his bed, finishing the potions essay he had begun earlier. The Common room and the dormitories were unusually quiet, as Severus had returned early from dinner, and most of the other Slytherins were still there.

For the second time that day, the sound of arguing filled his ears. The door slammed open, and a disgruntled looking Evander came in, followed closely by Darnell, whom the door narrowly missed slamming on. Evander looked at him in surprise, as if he were hoping the dorm would be empty, before swiftly crossing his room and climbing on his bed, pulling the silk emerald curtains shut around him.

As Severus watched him cross the room, he couldn't help but notice his limp, it looked as if his left leg had been injured but had not been healed properly. Darnell stood in front of the door, before crossing the room and standing in front of the bed which separated Severus' own and Evander's.

"Evander," Darnell said. "I'm not trying to argue with you. I just want to know what happened to you."

"Nothing happened," Evander replied. "I'm fine. I just want to sleep."

Severus knew that he was lying, but he was unsure if Darnell should be bothering Evander when he clearly didn't want to be bothered.

"You're hurt," Darnell replied.

"No, I'm not. I just fell over, that's all," Evander said, but his voice sounded far too controlled and level.

"Evander," Darnell sighed. Still, Severus watched the exchange, unsure of what to do. He knew that if Lily was upset, he would be there for her, to find out what was wrong and try to make it right, because that's what friends do. It wasn't quite the same kind of friendship that he shared with Evander and Darnell, but he knew he should try and help.

"It was Mulciber," Severus said, not as a question, but as a statement.

"Yes," came the reply, after a few moment of silence.

"Why?" Darnell asked.

"Because you said no," Severus supplied, putting the pieces together and understanding what had been going on.

Evander pulled the curtains back, so he was no longer obscured from view, looking at Severus, clearly wondering how he had guessed.

"To what?" Darnell asked, looking between the two of them with a confused expression on his face. Severus felt a rush of sympathy, another feeling which had previously eluded him, due to his lack of friendships. The only time he felt anything close to this was when Lily was telling him about her strained relationship with her muggle sister, but that was different from this situation.

"They wanted you to join," Severus said again, remembering his conversation with Lily a few weeks previously. "To join the Death Eaters. That's what all of those Seventh year boys Mulciber hangs around with plan to do after they graduate."

Evander nodded. "I said no."

"I can't imagine they were too pleased with that," Darnell said, finally understanding the situation.

"They weren't. Mulciber had been pressuring me to join for ages, saying our family would be disappointed with me if I don't, but today we happened to pass a bunch of his friends whilst we were arguing about it. Well, I think it was a set up."

"Why didn't you?" Severus asked, whilst Darnell stepped forward and, with Evander's permission, checked over his leg. Darnell wanted to be a Healer when he finished Hogwarts, and was always helping out other students with their problems.

"Would you have?" He asked Severus. They had never really talked about their beliefs in blood purity before, so Severus was unsure where they stood. It didn't help that wasn't entirely sure what he thought, either.

"No," Severus replied immediately, thinking of Lily's smile when he had promised her he wouldn't.

"I'd like to think I wouldn't, if I had a choice," Darnell piped up, he had been silently working on the injured leg, "but if they forced me, or threatened to hurt someone I care about, I think I would have to."

"Exactly," Evander replied. "I believe that Purebloods are superior magically, due to magic being in our family for generations without being weakened by Muggle blood."

"But you don't believe in how the Death Eaters are going about it," Severus finished. It was exactly how he felt too, thinking of his father and trying not to think of Lily. Lily was muggle-born, but she was an exceptional witch, which confused Severus about his beliefs, so he tried not to think about it.

"Blood purity, yes," Darnell agreed, having finished fixing up the injured leg and was now sitting on the foot of Evanders bed, "not mindless torture of muggles, where does that get them?"

The door opened, and the three other sixth year Slytherins entered, effectively ending their conversation. It was too controversial and dangerous a topic to talk about in front of other people, especially when those other people were Slytherins and probably had parents who were either Death Eaters or sympathisers to their cause.

"I'll catch you later," Darnell said, leaving the room. Evander closed his curtains, looking unhappy at the presence of the others.

Severus was sitting outside, alone, on an uncharacteristically warm day in January. Darnell was playing chess with Evander, who had become closer to them again, in the Common Room, but Severus wanted to get away from the noise. The Christmas holidays had come and gone, and with it an enormous sense of relief amongst the fifth years and above, who were finally able to have a break from work, or a chance to catch up for those who had fallen behind.

Now they were back for the Spring term, refreshed from the break and ready to face the onslaught on work they were expecting was waiting for them to return. The term began tomorrow, but most of the student population returned on Friday, as that was the official start of term, although classes did not begin until the Monday.

"Hey, Snivellous!" A voice called, and Severus jumped up and pulled his wand out, turning on the spot to face the voice. Potter was standing there with Sirius, and he expected that if he dared look away from them for a second, he would see the other two sitting somewhere nearby, the Pettigrew boy watching with a disgusting expression of awe on his face.

Potter raised his wand, but Severus got there first, aiming a body-bind curse which hit him square in the chest. He topped over, but before he could do the same to Black, Black had muttered the counter-curse and Potter was on his feet again, his expression changed from playful to determined. Severus was hit by two disarming curses at the same time, throwing him backwards, where he landed on the grass in a tangled heap.

He felt those around him turn and watch, and he cursed it being such a warm day, as it meant there were more people outside than there should have been on a January afternoon. He got to his feet as fast as he could, wondering why he hadn't been hit with another curse yet. As soon as he made it to his feet, Potter shouted another curse and his legs turned to jelly, folding beneath him. He tried to move towards his fallen wand, which was lying a few feet away, as he was no use without it, when another curse hit him, throwing him further away from his wand and making his body ache all over.

"What?" he heard Potter yelp. Struggling to lift his head, he saw that the Gryffindor was on the floor, his legs seemingly have collapsed underneath him, with Black swiftly following suit.

"Two on one doesn't seem very fair, does it?" Darnell said, stepping forward, kicking their legs out of the way as he approached Severus.

"Are you ok?" He asked, picking up his wand and handing it back to him.

"Yes, thanks," Severus said, refusing Darnell's hand and getting to his feet himself. "But I can take care of myself," he said, turning on his heel and striding towards the castle, the crowd dispersed now that it was over.

"Really?" Darnell said, appearing beside him.

"Yes." They continued to walk in silence, through the doors to the castle and through the twisting corridors of the dungeons.

"Severus," the younger boy said, as they approached the portrait which concealed the Slytherin common room and dormitories. "it's not a bad thing, or weak, to accept another's help."

Severus regarded the boy as he said the password and disappeared through the passage, leaving Severus standing there. He was used to being alone, he always had been. He always had no one to rely on but his own talent and brains, and he had grown used to sorting out his own problems. But it didn't have to always be that way, he realised. He was no longer alone, he had Lily again, and now he had both Evander and Darnell, who were there for each other, as Darnell had already shown on two separate occasions. He has the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, Severus joked to himself.

Saying the password, the snakes wound around the portrait and opened. As he walked through the passage, he felt as if a weight had lifted from his shoulders. He had people who cared about him; he no longer had to be alone.