Remus, true to his character, kept an eye on Severus after that. Now he knew the signs, he could be sure to give Severus some space when he needed it or tell others to back off when it was clear Severus was about to either explode in anger or have a mental breakdown. However, Remus couldn't stop Potter and Black, and he certainly couldn't stop the Slytherins. Most Slytherins, and likely Black, had probably seen the belt or the cane as a form of discipline, or perhaps worse from Death Eater parents, but Severus would that bet none of them had feared it day after day, positive it would happen, and for no discernible reason.

Funnily enough, most of them stayed quiet on the matter. Some things were just too far, like when Black had decided not to insult Severus because he had brought up his late mother. Jerks like Potter would use some embarrassing stuff but probably reckoned that using boggart material, especially truly horrifying stuff, was a bit beyond his usual pranking range. As it happened, the only people Severus had to fear, yet again, were Avery, Rosier and Mulciber.

"Hey, Snape! Snape! Scared about your daddy?"

Severus had been walking with Remus to their Charms lesson but the three Slytherins blocked the corridor.

"If I was," replied Severus, "I wouldn't tell you."

"But it must be so hard," simpered Rosier, "because he's a filthy Muggle as well."

Remus stiffened, probably thinking about his mother and Severus decided that he wasn't leaving without a fight - if only to stop Remus attacking them himself. A hard look came into his eyes and it terrified Remus when he saw it. There was no emotion in those coal black eyes.

"Going to attack us, Snape?" Mulciber asked. "I wouldn't hold out much hope - you can't even fight off your dad."

Severus' wand was in his hand in a second, and the Slytherins eyed it slightly warily. There may be three of them but Severus was renowned to be the best wizard in their year, possibly even the entire school.

"Boys, it's time for lessons!"

Dumbledore stood, an imposing figure, on a nearby set of stairs.

"There is not going to be any fighting in this school. Not while I'm Headmaster."

His tone conveyed no room for argument and so the Slytherins walked away. Dumbledore gave Severus a knowing look before he and Remus went on their way as well.

"Thank Godric we weren't given detention," Remus sighed. "I really thought he would do it. He sounded pretty angry."

"Yeah he did," Severus murmured. 

It was foolish of Severus to even think about revealing his duelling ability before he had to. Dumbledore's look had been a warning.

"Anyway, want to study with me and Nicholas later? We're doing some Transfiguration practice."

Remus knew that Transfiguration was Severus' worst subject.

"Can't - I've got detention," Severus replied ruefully.

"Oh, sorry - I forgot," Remus said miserably.

"It's fine. I'll see you later, Rem."

"Yeah - see you, Sev."

*

"I'm bored," Severus complained.

They'd finally got to the weekend and Severus had had his final detention the night before.

"How on earth are you bored?" Remus asked, confused. "You've got time now to do anything you like."

"That's the problem," Severus groaned. "What do I like?"

"Making potions," Regulus suggested, hopping up onto a desk.

"Playing chess?" Offered Remus hopefully, staring at the dusty chess set in front of him.

"Oh I know!" Regulus exclaimed. "You could teach us non-verbal spells! You did promise."

"Lily will kill me if I teach you two before her," Severus remarked.

"Fine, I'll go and get her," Remus surrendered.

Severus face-palmed himself.

"When I said I was bored, I didn't mean that I wanted to spend the afternoon teaching."

"Well tough!" Remus called from the door. "I'm going to get Lily."

"I hate you guys," Severus muttered.

"Do you though?" Questioned Regulus slyly, but Severus chose to ignore him.

Ten minutes later, the classroom was packed.

"Remus, what on earth have you done?" Severus questioned, searching for the mop of sandy brown hair in the crowd.

"It turns out that Lily isn't the only person who wants to learn non-verbal magic. Alice told quite a few people and then I bumped into Nicholas on the way back."

"Dumbledore is going to kill me," Severus muttered to himself.

In front of him stood Lily and Alice; John Truman, Jason Macavoy and all the Hufflepuff girls; Nicholas, Edgar and George; Natalie, Maisie, Francesca Rowle, Madeleine Selwyn and of course Remus and Regulus.

"Pictor wanted to join in too," Madeleine told him. "Can I get him?"

"Fine," said Severus in a resigned voice, allowing Madeleine to go and search for the Slytherin boy.

It certainly hadn't been his intention to form a second 'Dumbledore's Army' or anything of the kind but look where they were. Seventeen out of the forty people in their year stood before him, all looking expectant.

"Well get to it, Sev," Lily grinned.

Severus sighed. The absolute last thing he wanted to be doing was teaching. He thought he'd left that behind him.

"Alright, listen up," he said, projecting clearly. "Non-verbal spells are extremely hard to do. Most people never manage them but it does give you a split-second advantage over your opponent. They require a lot of concentration and mind power which some people, unfortunately, lack."

Luckily, Severus' group wasn't too bad at concentrating as most of Lily's friends were nearly if not as clever as she was. Lily was trying her hardest, sticking out her tongue and everything but wasn't quite able to manage it. Nicholas, as usual, had mastered the art of non-verbal spells before anybody else and was now alternating between bragging and actually helping out other people and Regulus also turned out to be surprisingly good. At the end of their two-hour session, five people could do it, which Severus considered a definite win: Nicholas, Regulus, Natalie, Edgar and Jason Macavoy, who turned out to be a surprisingly academic Hufflepuff.

"I couldn't do it," Remus whined.

Regulus patted him on the back in consolation with a pleased grin on his face.

"I can teach you, Rem. Maybe it's just Severus' teaching."

Severus rolled his eyes but Remus seemed to consider this a genuine reason and left still talking very seriously to Regulus about the nature of non-verbal spells.

Lily came up to him.

"That was amazing, Sev! You're a great teacher!"

Severus smiled, hoping it didn't seem too bitter. He'd always been a great teacher; people just hadn't seen it when he was a bitter old bat with greasy hair. Appearances meant everything.

"Thanks," he replied, "but it's just a matter of knowing the content and being able to explain it."

She seemed to be about to say something, possibly to criticise his self-deprecating nature, but then Nicholas walked up to him.

"Is there any homework, Snape?" He asked eagerly, with the air of a Ravenclaw who knows he was sorted into the right house.

"For you," Severus answered sarcastically. "Of course. Page three-hundred-and-ninety-four in 'Confronting the Faceless' should give you a small information on non-verbal spells. Use what you can and I expect to be caught totally unawares with a Knockback Jinx on Wednesday."

*****

A.N. So I didn't quite get round to publishing two chapters today but I did enjoy writing this one, especially the latter half. [Edit - I managed to publish another chapter!] Nicholas is definitely my favourite minor character. xD

A quick question - do you think I should put trigger warnings on specific chapters or (I've just put one before the first chapter) do you think the one at the start is good enough? Surely people who've read the first book know what's to come? Give me your thoughts, please. I'd hate for anyone to get triggered reading this.

This chapter is dedicated to @TWINNINGS4474 for contributing to my sudden burst in motivation to update this fic. Thanks!

Thank you, everyone, for reading this! Comment anything, say hello, criticise - anything you like! :)