Chapter 1: Turn Around
Severus caressed Narcissa’s face, smooth as baby skin before allowing his fingers to dangle in her hair. It felt like silk slithering in his hand. The falling snow dripped off her hair only to be followed by another layer. A whiff of flakes clouded around him making him inhale sharply and sneeze in her hair. In return she covered her mouth in disgust and soon erased the incident from her memory.
Narcissa sighed. The frozen jasmine and evergreen bushes around them added just the right touch. It was a starless night underlying the black rush of the sky. Just the way she liked it. She let out a seductive breath and crossed her arms around Severus’s waist. “I don’t want any shadow’s cast.”
Severus looked at her curiously before following her gaze to the flickering candle he had brought. It did flash their shadows across the snowy scenery. “Oh, no one’s out this late at night.” He felt Narcissa’s hands scythe away. She propped her arms up on her hips just so with that same nasty glare plastered on her face when things didn’t go quite her way. Apparently such an unattractive charm moved Severus to put out the candle. He groaned, bent over behind him towards the stone pedestal and blew.
A certain two Marauders grinned in secret as the candle burned brighter than ever in the icy air. “What do those two see in each other?” There was a false pity in James voice.
“Thankfully they don’t see it in anyone else,” Sirius said. A wave of snickers followed as they watched Severus so confused sweating to blow out the candle.
Narcissa was embarrassed. “It’s a shame you’re not a wizard,” she said sarcastically. “Otherwise you could magically put out that candle.”
Severus stumbled for his wand. “I was just about to try that,” he shot back. “Spegneralisis!” The candle flame was doused in a heavy red coat of slime, which quickly melted the wax as well. It dripped over the metal rim it was being held in. He was still unsatisfied. “You can bet Potter and Black had something to “ hiccup!” A string of golden bubbles floated out of his mouth.
“Don’t remind me of him,” Narcissa said referring to Sirius. “God, I see enough of my cousin during the summer.” She was cut off her rant with another bubbly golden hiccup from Severus.
“Aw,” Sirius cooed, “We shouldn’t allow Snape to have all the fun.” With a quick whip of his wand Narcissa’s joints buckled and she broke down in a fit of laughter as if some imaginary force was tickling her. Severus hiccupped bubbles yet again. Meanwhile the white candle molded itself back to its form standing proud upon its holder. The hot flame burned twice as bright and better than before.
“A gag “ ha ha - candle!” Narcissa managed to gasp out.
Severus cursed between a hiccup and gripped the candle. He broke it in half but the candle still persisted in burning. He screamed in frustration only for another hiccup to interrupt his rant as he threw the broken bits through a pass in the garden. They stopped half way in the air and dropped unexpectedly as if hit with a sudden gravity. “Candles that bounce off the air?”
James and Sirius watched Severus slowly make his way toward them, crunching the snow with each step. “I thought this cloak was supposed to make us invisible?”
“It doesn’t make us intangible,” James said looking down at the broken gag candle they had bought. Actually it had been a gift from Remus. It was a shame he and Peter had to serve detention with the Quidditch Coach, Madam Hooch tonight after being caught soaking the Slytherins’ team robes in a potion. It had made horrible itchy boils pop up on their skin during practice. Suddenly their invisibility cloak was whisked off them.
“You “ ‘hic!” Snape was livid. He snatched Sirius’s posed wand and thrust it on the ground. The wand landed with a “plop” as it hit the snow along with the cloak. James immediately canceled the charm he had placed on Snape.
Severus seemed to take no note of this or at least didn’t want to make note of the charm’s release. Instead he shoved a gesture at Narcissa, who was laughing so hard her face was rosy. “End it!”
“Sorry,” James tucked his wand away. “It’s not in my power to stop that one.”
Snape was about to throttle him. He swatted out his wand from the insides of his cloak. “Stupefy!” The wand burst in a frenzy of glitter and crackling sparks, also compliments of Remus. The remains were followed by laughter supplied by the phony wand itself. Snape threw down the leftover confetti in his hand. Now he really did look like he was ready to kill somebody.
“Hey, Greaseball,” Sirius said, “Catch!”
Snape caught the flying object. He rolled it over in his hand to examine it only for it to explode in his face. Sirius smiled, “Perfect timing.” The stench of the dungbomb was instantaneous. He grasped the sleeve of James’s cloak to grab his attention. They ran leaving heavy tracks in the snow.
James and Sirius stopped running to catch their breath. They turned around to watch the end of their work, along with the small chaos they had left behind.
“Now that was some fine work, my friend,” James said as a playful smirk scrawled across his face. He gave Sirius a complementary slap on the back. “Did you see the look on Severus’s face?”
Sirius gloated in the spotlight. “Priceless. Of course, I can’t take all of the credit.”
“You’re right.”
There was a gasp and a harsh crack on the ice as they neared the school. “Nice James, real smooth,” Sirius said.
No answer.
“James?” The ground began crackling beneath his feet. He warily looked down to see that beneath the layer of snow was a layer of ice. Under that he could see water seeping from the cracks.
The good cheer suddenly ended. “James! Are you all right?” Sirius yelled. He took a step forward only to find the ice hiss and spit even more under the weight his feet. As quickly as the ice shattered he changed into a form of a black dog and jumped, landing on his leathery feet. The ice seemed to support him now. Not far away from him was another crevice. His breath dropped into his stomach.
Sirius’s padded feet were like feathers on the ice. He stood over the open water in the ice. Without thinking he changed back and jumped into the bitter waters. His brave and stupid attempt didn’t last long and he was soon out, gasping for air and grimacing at the cold. Digging through his soaked robes, he searched for his wand. “Fire,” he thought. “I need to melt this ice.” But he couldn’t find it. “Damn it!” He thrust down his arms in exasperation. “I’m gonna kill him.”
He changed back into a dog and ran across the frozen lake hoping to make better timing. Once by the garden, he skidded around and scanned frantically in the snow. Luckily, there was that bulky invisibility cloak to be spotted. And where there was the cloak there was the wand, but as luck would have it the cloak was now gone from its spot. All that was left was an imprint and no wand.
Snape and Narcissa were still in the garden, recuperating from the prank. Narcissa’s charm was now replaced by a very nasty mood. Snape hugged her; trying to cheer her up.
“Give me back my wand, you slimy git!”
Severus whipped around, startled by Sirius’s voice. “Why would I do such a stupid thing after what you did to us?”
“James’s in serious danger,” he said straight out. He hoped the urgency in his voice would help.
“You’d think this being his last year he could defend himself.” Narcissa replied. Her voice was as cold as her looks. She pulled out his wand and taunted him with it. Sirius made a grab for it, but she yanked it away and gave it to Snape.
Sirius gritted his teeth. He snatched for his wand again but Snape pulled it back. He was losing patience. “I’ve never hit a woman before,” he threatened.
“Don’t even think about it,” Narcissa said.
“I wasn’t talking about you.”
Snape huffed. He handed Sirius the wand. He seized it and ran as fast as he could around the corner.
Even before he was on the lake, he aimed his wand. “Succendo!” The streak of flames blasted through the icy air. It melted the snow, and the ice easily. In a small radius anyways but it was enough. He cast another spell upon himself in order to breathe underwater and jumped again into the lake, relieved that the cold was bearable for a moment anyways.
Currents of water whipped around him. The lake was sharp dark, especially at night. James couldn’t make out what was following him. The hostile waters threatened his presence and the icy pressure of the cold was like a vice tightening around his chest. His robes dragged him down and the more he swam for the surface, the further he dragged down.
He nearly gasped (and it was a good thing he hadn’t) as he felt an unpleasant slither wrap around his arm. He snatched it and immediately attempted to jerk the thing off him. But instead, it pulled him gently towards the currents. A satiny voice broke the dangerous silence with a bubbly giggle.
James thirsted for a breath. The stale air in his lungs wasn’t going to last any longer. But the more he struggled, the worse the aches in his chest became. His body was burning and the muscles in his throat felt as if they were being torn apart. He twisted his body and kicked his ankles, struggling against whatever was holding him down.
“Do you want to get away from me that badly?” came a soft call.
“This thing’s going to kill me!”
Bitter water filled his chest; he coughed and fought not to breathe. But he was shivering uncontrollably now and the pain seared his vitals.
And then came a cooling, numb stir within him and he allowed the darkness to drown him. The more it deluged him, the less he fought it.
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