HP: The Stellar Witch [OFC]

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Lily Evans stormed ahead angrily, with Potter following closely behind. His three best friends trailed along, laughing and joking carelessly.

Lys, supporting an apparently disoriented Snape, glanced sideways at him. His pitch-black eyes remained fixed intently on Evans's retreating figure until she completely vanished from sight. Only then did he turn away, shrugging off Lys's hand. With a sullen expression, he headed to the hospital wing alone. Lys followed worriedly, ensuring he entered the infirmary before departing.

That evening in the dormitory, Lys gazed at Gabby, whose amber eyes stared back unblinkingly. Gradually, her feeling of jealousy began to dissipate.

Now she too had someone who focused solely on her - just like her mother's attention to her father, Coco's dedication to housework, and Snape's fixation on Evans.

Yes, she finally had that too.

Contentedly, she fed Gabby some meat strips and replaced the water bowl with fresh warm water before cuddling up with her snake for the night.

During Halloween, Lys specially prepared some mice for Gabby - it was a holiday, after all, time for special treats. However, after tasting live prey, Gabby refused to eat meat strips anymore.

Though Gabby wasn't a big eater, why let her go hungry when she could be well-fed? In the following days, besides focusing on her studies, Lys spent time catching mice.

After one Transfiguration class, Professor McGonagall noticed that Lys always returned the practice mice in their original state and in excellent condition. She couldn't help but inquire, "Miss Black, are you fond of this mouse? If so, I could give it to you, since you've been taking such good care of it."

"No, Professor. I used to like furry animals, but after that mixed spell incident, I can't handle seeing them suddenly anymore."

"Oh, I'm sorry about what our house students caused. Then why do you keep this mouse so healthy?"

McGonagall was genuinely curious. In all her years of teaching, even the famously kind-hearted Hufflepuffs rarely showed such attentiveness, especially someone who now disliked furry animals.

"Well," Lys contemplated, "I just think if it comes to me in good condition, it should leave in good condition. I have no need to harm it, Professor."

McGonagall seemed to understand her meaning.

"In that case, Professor, if you give it to me, could I feed it to my snake?" Lys asked cautiously, still mindful of Professor Sprout's previous anger over her misuse of class rewards.

Professor McGonagall paused before responding, "Er, I believe it still has its duties as teaching equipment to fulfill, doesn't it?"

Though Lys, at twelve, still struggled to articulate certain things clearly, she understood perfectly well: One might not care whether something lives or dies, but while it's alive, it should live well. Even if enduring pain is part of staying alive, life itself shouldn't be painful.

Gabby had become incredibly lazy, barely moving except to climb onto her shoulder in the morning and mark its territory again in its designated space at night. Lys rarely visited the kitchen anymore, as the house-elves would bang their heads against the wall while she worked, believing they weren't doing their jobs properly.

Now, girl and snake lay sprawled on the bed, Lys munching on bread she'd taken from breakfast while intently reading a book her father had given her. However, the author had deemed the basic concepts too elementary to mention, directing readers to consult another book for those details.

Since Lys indeed needed that explanatory book, she tidied her clothes and carried Gabby to the library to search for it. While noting that Gabby seemed to have gained some weight, she spotted Snape in the corridor leading to the library, clutching a potions book and some notes. He looked rather unhappy.

Taking another step forward, she saw Evans tugging at his sleeve while talking to him. It made sense - Snape had no need for company, nor did anyone seek his. His patience emerged only with Evans, and occasionally with the platinum-haired prefect Malfoy. Otherwise, he would simply walk away with his characteristic gloomy expression.

"Sev, you should make new friends..." Evans was pulling at Snape's sleeve, offering what seemed like sincere advice.

Lys paused in surprise, looking down at her own worn-out, ill-fitting clothes that matched Snape's.

"New friends?" she muttered to herself. "In Slytherin, people like us don't have the privilege of having friends."

She couldn't help but recall the older students' bewildered comments: "A pure-blood good-for-nothing, a half-blood with barely any talent - both either hanging around with equally useless Hufflepuffs or consorting with Gryffindor Mudbloods. They're absolutely disgraceful to Slytherin."

Since Snape's half-blood status had been revealed through mockery, his life in Slytherin had become increasingly difficult, with others treating him like garbage reeking of Muggle stench.

Feeling slightly nauseated by Evans's self-righteous expression, Lys took a detour into the library.

After carefully searching the shelves and finding the book, she settled at a corner table, where she found an open potions notebook. The tiny, cramped handwriting made her head ache just looking at it.

After placing Gabby on the table to rest, Lys attempted to read and understand the book. It was challenging but quite interesting.

Much later, a shadow fell across her side, and she shifted slightly, assuming the notebook's owner had returned.

Grimacing as she read, Lys was eager to try out the book's contents but couldn't borrow it, as she still hadn't returned her previous library loans.

She went to Madam Pince to get a quill and parchment, intending to copy the passage. Upon returning, she spotted someone with black hair staring at her book, realizing as she got closer that the gleaming black head belonged to Snape.

"Are you interested in this book too? You'll have to wait a bit - I just need to copy this section, then you can have it, alright?" Though phrased as a question, Lys had already plopped down in her chair and started writing.

Snape frowned at her wild, messy handwriting full of errors.

"If your muscles haven't invaded your brain, you'll notice that this experimental process doesn't include that part."

"Well, Snape, I want to see what happens if it's added. Don't worry, I'll copy the original version on the back of this paper. Don't speak - I'm about to forget my inspiration."

"Gabby, Gabby, where are you? We need to go." She finally found her lazy snake sunbathing under Snape's chair.

Ignoring Snape's surprised stare at her snake, Lys grabbed her papers and wand, hoisted up her snake, and headed to the beech tree to try out the spell.