James was in a foul mood the next morning; Aidan had not been amused by James’s suggestion of starting practice a half hour early.
“Don’t bother coming to practice, Potter. If you can’t stay for the entire time don’t bother coming! Honestly, can’t you ever stay out of trouble? And if you miss practice again for detention, I’ll have you benched for the first game. Understand?” Aidan had retorted.
James, his head bowed in embarrassment, only nodded. Aidan’s words had carried clearly around the Gryffindor common room for everyone to hear just the other night.
Sirius wouldn’t ever side against his best friend, but he could see Aidan’s point. By the time the team warmed up, James would have to head back to the castle anyway. Sirius, Peter, and even Remus who had already expressed he found the detention ‘fair’ had been trying to cheer up James all morning.
The arrival of the post did improve James’s demeanor. His mother had sent a large package of sweets. Peter had received a letter from his mother; while Sirius and Remus looked at each other, both left without mail. While James was rummaging through his sweets, Sirius picked up James’s copy of the Daily Prophet.
The front article immediately alarmed Sirius. Wife of Deceased Daily Prophet Columnist Speaks Out.
Having ignored the news of the outside world for the weekend, Sirius hadn’t been aware there had been another death. A columnist from the Daily Prophet was a big deal and Sirius was surprised there hadn’t been more gossip about it among the student body.
He began reading the article:
Friday night, Mrs. Lynn Boleyn arrived home from visiting her sister to discover a grisly scene. Her husband sprawled dead on the floor “ signs of torture evident- and the Dark Mark, quickly becoming associated with Death Eater activities (Picture on page two) above her two story house. In a red substance- only further testing will determine if it is blood or red paint- Thomas Boleyn had scrawled, ‘Lynn, you were right.’
Mrs. Boleyn did not immediately put any importance in the dying message. Distraught over the death of her husband and worried about the safety of her unborn child, Mrs. Boleyn had more pressing matters on her mind. Days later she realised the message was not a warning for her eyes only, but for the Magical Community at large.
Before his death, Mr. Boleyn had written many critical articles against the so-called Death Eaters; even going as far as calling their movement ‘backwards.’ Though it had not been common knowledge, Mr. Boleyn had been working on a new article about Lord Voldemort, known leader of the Death Eaters. Mr. Boleyn felt it should not escape any ones notice that Lord Voldemort had gone through a lot of trouble to hide his real name and true identity. He also had urged all wizards and witches to inquire about Lord Voldemort’s identity and find out more about his background. Learning more about who this man was, Mr. Boleyn felt, would be the greatest aide in bringing him out of power. In the unpublished article, which Mrs. Boleyn has kindly allowed us to read, Mr. Boleyn even went as far as to mock the man for self-proclaiming himself a lord.
Both Mr. Boleyn’s wife and sister believe he was murdered because of the unpublished article. Aurors investigating the murder would not comment about any leads.
Mr. Boleyn’s sister was quoted saying, “My brother’s death came out because of his blatant disrespect to that man and his followers.”
Mrs. Boleyn had previously spoken to her husband about the danger of mocking such a powerful man. She felt that despite disagreeing with Lord Voldemort, proper respect should be shown. Mr. Boleyn had planned to publish the article by the end of this week.
Mrs. Boleyn spoke to us candidly about her belief that there is a curse linked to Lord Voldemort’s name. “Very bad luck seems to follow those that dare defy You-Know-Who,” Mrs. Boleyn said, blue eyes tearing. Throughout the entire interview Mrs. Boleyh only once referred to Lord Voldemort by his real name, from then on she called him ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ and ‘You-Know-Who.’ Mrs. Boleyn informed us she was too frightened to speak his real name.
The Daily Prophet Staff after careful deliberation has agreed with Mrs. Boleyn’s views on the matter. For the safety of the staff, after this point on we will no longer print Lord Voldemort’s name. Also in order to protect the rest of our journalists and their families, Mr. Boleyn’s article will not be published. We urge all our readers to be cautious.
“Read this James,” Sirius said pushing it across the table. Remus, sitting next to James, leaned over to read the article as well.
“Complete load of nonsense,” James said throwing the paper to Peter.
“Another death,” Remus said softly. “There’s been so many lately.”
“They just kill off the people who speak the truth like Thomas Boleyn. My father was a big fan of his. He was the only reporter brave enough to say what these Death Eaters and their cause is really about,” James replied.
“And look where it got him,” Peter said grimly.
“What?” James asked sharply.
“He’s dead. Isn’t he?” Peter stammered, his voice an octave bit too high. Peter very rarely voiced an opinion that differed from any of them. “He left his wife to be a widow and an unborn child fatherless, and for what?”
“He stood up for something he believed in!” Sirius stated loudly. Sirius was thinking of his own rebellion against his family. Some might say it was useless and not worth the fight, but to Sirius it was about defending his convictions.
The article portrayed what so many wizards and witches feared. The lines between the two sides, those who sided with Voldemort’s pure-blood elitists and those who were for magical equality, were becoming more defined. If things continued on this path a full out war would be inevitable.
Sirius continued, “The Death Eaters have already won if there is no one willing to stand against him.”
Peter mumbled something Sirius couldn’t quite make out. It sounded along the lines of ‘Not everyone hates their family and doesn’t care if they are killed.’
“Let’s talk of something more cheerful,” Remus said while giving Sirius a meaningful look to stay quiet. Of course Peter wouldn’t have the courage to speak those words clearly to his face. Most importantly, Peter was wrong to classify Sirius’s relationship with his family as just hate, and to describe it as that was oversimplifying it and made Sirius out to be just a spoiled child who disagreed with his family about something silly, like the length of his hair. Sure, Sirius had proclaimed out loud that he hated his family and he even thought it often, but it was not so easy to ignore your blood. He hated them as you might hate a mole on your hand; only complete removal would free you.
“Cheerful like Double Potions?” Sirius asked sarcastically, playing along. He wouldn’t get into an argument with Peter of his feelings toward his family. Sirius would rather not speak of it at all.
“We could make it interesting,” James said.
“Like a prank?” Sirius asked.
“You’ll get caught if you don’t properly plan it,” Remus warned.
“Then we’ll plan it,” Sirius said. “Time for Hogwarts to meet the Marauders.”
As excited as they had been to plan a prank, they didn’t get anywhere with the plans that morning, but more importantly it had broken the tension. Sirius noticed lots of students were speaking about the article in hushed tones. There was a mixed reaction, as expected some students agreed with the Daily Prophet about their ‘better-safe-than-sorry’ attitude in regards to speaking Voldemort’s name, while others viewed it as pure rubbish.
In Potions that day, Professor Slughorn began the class period with a long lecture about the two-day process needed to brew a Warming Potion. He went over each step verbally and pointed out the more uncommon reactions that occurred during the brewing process. Slughorn told them cheerfully that they’d be tested on the theory behind it next week. After Slughorn spoke, he had them carefully copy down the directions from the board as the potion was not listed in their textbook.
Partners had not changed yet, so Sirius was still stuck with Mary and James with Leila. Leila had clearly given up on charming James, and even from a few rows back Sirius could tell she was treating James condescendingly. Leila would view James as a blood-traitor, and with no hope of James convincing Sirius to court her, she had no reason to treat him politely. On the contrary, by treating James rudely she could actually annoy Sirius at the same time.
Mary, on the other hand, was very friendly. She made no mention of Leila nor did she appear to be trying to siphon gossip off him. She was pleasant and acting normal, like she had the previous years around him. Somehow none of this comforted Sirius, but besides a gut instinct, he had no reason to mistrust her.
Since this was the first day of the two-day process, most of class was spent grinding up leaves of different Magical plants with names so long and complicated Sirius was sure whoever had named them had done it to torture future students. The juice they had to collect from the leaves was only an ounce, but it required the mashing of an entire plant. At the end of class everyone’s hands were cramped and hurting from the pounding and grinding. A few students who hadn’t properly protected their hands had patches of bright yellows, oranges and reds on their skin.
At the end of class Leila disappeared, leaving James to clean up. Professor Slughorn who almost always noticed when Sirius or James were up to mischief, missed the fact Leila had not done her share of cleaning. Sirius knew immediately why, Slughorn was too busy fawning over his favorite students.
Feeling guilty that Leila’s treatment of James was partly because of him, Sirius, after tending to his own mess, joined James to give him a hand. As James and Sirius finished up, Professor Slughorn unfortunately toddled over to James’s work area. Slughorn had been speaking to Lily Evans and Snape; most likely heaping the usual praise on Evans. He’d bet a few galleons that Slughorn had commented on Evans’s plant juice being particularly juicy or something along those lines.
“I’m delighted you both are still here,” Slughorn said jovially. “I’m having a small group of students over on Sunday for a start of the term festivity, and I was hoping to see you both there.”
Sirius was desperately thinking of any excuse to get out of the invite. Perhaps he could still manage to get a Sunday detention. Keenan was easily disgruntled by him and it wouldn’t be difficult. While Sirius was racking his brain for an excuse, James had looked over to where Lily Evans was tidying up her belongings, while her friends waited around her. Snape had by then left the classroom.
“We’d love to come, Professor,” James said. Sirius, shocked by his friend’s affirmation to the request, opened his mouth to say something- anything to get James to see sense-when James stepped hard on his toes.
All Sirius could do was pretend his grimace of pain was actually a smile, as Slughorn clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Mr. Black, your brother has already accepted my invitation.”
“I’m overjoyed,” Sirius replied, gritting his teeth from the pain emanating from his sore foot. The professor beamed at them. Slughorn was always trying to entice them to attend, and neither of them had been to a party of his since second year.
Sirius turned to James waiting for a long and elaborate explanation about why he’d agreed they’d go to an event that would be insufferably boring.
“Not here,” James said, not looking Sirius in the eyes, as he wiped the bench with a damp sponge.
Without so much as a hello to Peter or Remus, who as usual had been waiting outside for them, Sirius rounded on James. “Why’d you say yes? Those parties are horrible and boring and you’ve never wanted to go before.”
James looking increasingly uncomfortable turned slightly red as he said, “I thought it would be a good place to chat up some girls.”
“Chat up girls?” Sirius asked bewildered. “Rich and snobby girls like Leila, you mean?”
“Those aren’t the only girls invited,” James answered.
Sirius stared at James for a moment, very surprised that this was the direction the conversation was going. “So there’s a specific girl then? Out with it then, who is she?”
James mumbled a name.
“Didn’t quite catch that, mate?”
“Lily Evans,” James said more clearly, but his voice was still barely above a whisper.
“Evans? Friends with Snivellus, Evans? You fancy her?” Sirius voiced.
James didn’t need to answer; his face said it all. “So what if I do?” James defended. “Even you must have noticed how pretty she got over the summer?”
Sirius regarded James pensively for a few moments. Lily Evans with her vibrant red hair and green eyes was certainly a girl you did not forget. And she had ‘grown-up’ over the summer, though she was not the sort of girl that interested Sirius. “I suppose so,” Sirius admitted.
“She’s not seeing anyone. Is she Remus?” James asked.
It was Remus’s turn to look uncomfortable. “How should I know?”
“Now that you’re prefects together, aren’t you friends?”
“I don’t know. Our company is more forced upon each other than anything.”
“Are you going to ask her out?” Peter said.”
“We’ll see how the Slug Club Party goes,” James replied, straightening up, the confidence he’d lost slightly from confessing that a girl had captured his eye was restored.
Sirius flopped himself onto his bed in the boys dorm. It was strange for Sirius to find himself alone. Between sharing a room with five people (three of them his closest friends) and spending lots of times in the socially active common room, there was always someone about. Though, tonight James was serving his detention with Professor Keenan. Terry Keeler was also in detention with McGonagall and Derek Newbell was spending the evening with his girlfriend, Jamie Morgan. Remus was busy escorting Peter to the Hospital Wing and then stopping in the library.
It didn’t matter since Sirius had his own plans for the night. Taking out a fresh parchment, quill and the two- way mirror on the off-chance Professor Keenan left James unsupervised during detention, Sirius settled himself to pen a letter to his cousin Andromeda. Technically, if one were to go by the official Black Family tree, Andromeda was no longer a part of the family. She’d been blasted off the tree after marrying Muggle-born Ted Tonks. Though Andromeda was several years older than Sirius and they’d never (mainly because of the age gap) had been exceptionally close, he still considered her his favorite cousin. His respect for her had jumped tenfold when he had learned that she had gotten away from the clutches of the oppressive Black family and was living happily without their well wishes or support. The family had been very shaken by Andromeda’s abrupt desertion of the family. Andromeda had shown no signs of rebellion (unlike Sirius). She’d been sorted into Slytherin - even excelled in Slytherin. She’d always been agreeable and obedient, and never showed a particular affection for Muggles. Yet Andromeda had fallen in love with a boy the family would never approve of and that was that.
Sirius’s contact with Andromeda was now limited to the letters owled back and forth during the school year. He knew his parents suspected he had contact with her, but they could do little to stop it. Now three weeks into the school year, she hadn’t written him yet. Sirius was surprised by his disappointment in her lack of contact. He’d always prided himself in not needing any family. He was even more surprised in himself for he planned to ask Andromeda for advice in the letter. Sirius didn’t often to go others for help with his problems, preferring to deal with it on his own like most teenagers. And Andromeda was technically an adult (with her own child), which made her even less likely the person he’d turn to.
It really came down to the fact that he was feeling more acutely than ever the pressure of family obligation and she was the only person in Sirius’s mind who could relate. When it came to his friends’ parents, Sirius would have gladly adopted any set. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were loving and kind, and next to perhaps murder, James could do no wrong in their eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Lupin were very careful with Remus when it came to their expectations. Believing it was a miracle Remus had achieved more of a normal life at Hogwarts than they had ever hoped for, they didn’t put any pressure on him in the academics or socially. However, Remus put pressure on himself in the studies department. Mrs. Pettigrew (Mr. Pettigrew, having ‘run-off,’ was no longer in the picture) was a very doting mother, though more with foods, clothes, and comfort than Peter’s schoolwork.
On the other hand, Sirius’s parents expected perfection in all facets of his life. So even when Sirius achieved perfect marks, he was just saved from being lectured. It took going above and beyond perfection to receive any sort of compliment.
Immersed in his letter, Sirius did not hear Remus enter, and jumped a foot when Remus took a seat on his bed.
“Merlin!”
“Sorry. Who are you writing?”
“Andromeda.”
“Ah. The one sane member of your family.”
Sirius smiled half-heartedly. “How’s Peter?”
“Very peaky. The nurse is keeping him there overnight. She thinks it might be the flu and doesn’t want to take the chance of it spreading to all of Gryffindor house.”
“You’re back early. Weren’t you going to stop in the library?” Sirius asked.
“I did stop in and I found what I was looking for quickly. Want to see the neat spell I discovered?”
Sirius sat up eagerly. Remus took the feathered quill Sirius had been writing with. Holding it out in front, Remus waved his wand in three large swirls and murmured a strange word. Sirius eyed the quill skeptically for it hadn’t changed in shape or color.
“Now touch it,” Remus urged.
Sirius shrugged, but did as instructed. Suddenly he was surrounded by ten identical quills. Remus went to touch one of the ten (Sirius couldn’t tell if it was the original one) and now twenty more appeared.
“Wicked,” Sirius said grabbing a hold of another one to find an additional forty quills covering the bed.
“And it will keep doubling until you say the counter-curse,” Remus explained and swished his wand so that all but the original feather was left. “There’s a lot of tweaking you can do with the spell. You can change the amount it will double or how long the effect will last. You can set it so that a code word sets it off instead of a touch “ though that magic is a bit complicated.”
“Does it only work on feathers?”
“No, practically anything.”
Sirius looked at Remus an idea for a prank half-formed in his head already. And in the way Remus looked back, Sirius had the feeling Remus had intended the use of the spell for that very reason. It was on the tip of his tongue to make a crack about Remus going against his prefect obligation, but eager to be allowed to use the spell, he held it in.
“We’ll put it to good use then?” Sirius asked slyly.
“Responsibly,” Remus cut in.
Sirius rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the letter. He glanced at the empty mirror, wishing James would show so prank discussion could begin properly. Though with Peter in the Hospital Wing, knowing James, he’d make them wait until Peter returned.
Terry returned from his detention and the three of them talked a few moments about mundane things. Terry excused himself to shower and Remus went to sit on his own bed and opened up one of his books on magical creatures; a book that probably did not have a very accurate description about werewolves. Remus had once explained to them that he felt it necessary to educate himself about all the misconceptions floating around about werewolves and use that knowledge to combat it.
Terry, after his shower, went downstairs to the common room which suited Sirius. There was only so much small talk they could do with their two additional roommates before the conversation turned awkward. As Sirius was signing off his letter, the door opened once more and James tromped in. Remus placed his book down and Sirius folded his letter quickly, slipping it into his satchel on the floor.
“How was it?” Sirius asked attentively.
“Horrible,” James answered falling back on his bed. “He obviously enjoys torturing his students.”
“Torturing?” Remus questioned. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t mean physical torture, obviously. Mental torture.”
“Did he have you do lines?” Sirius pondered.
“No. Keenan told me the Headmaster wants to start cleaning up a lot of the unused classrooms and has asked all teachers to use detention as an excuse to enslave the student body for that task,” James informed them. “I don’t know why Professor Dumbledore doesn’t just use house-elves to accomplish it. Anyway, Keenan, of course, picks a classroom with extra large and long windows, with a perfect “ perfect “ view of the Quidditch pitch. He has me wash all the windows, so even if I wanted to ignore the pitch, the work is forcing me to stare straight at it.”
Remus, smiling slightly at James’s dramatics, said, “You think Professor Keenan picked the room purposely?”
“Yes,” James said sitting up. “Out of all the rooms-”
“Or it’s just bad luck on your part,” Sirius interjected and he shared a grin with Remus.
“Oh, shut it. It wasn’t bad luck or a coincidence,” James reaffirmed and he glanced around the room. “Where’s Peter?”
Sirius and Remus explained to James briefly how Peter had fallen ill and that the nurse was keeping him there overnight.
Before James could begin complaining again, Remus remarked, “Does Peter seem a little down to you?” His tone had a forced casualness, so Sirius suspected Remus had been waiting for the right moment to bring it up.
“Why do you think that?” James asked in puzzlement.
“I think he may be a little self-conscious about his animal form,” Remus said.
“Because he’s a rat?” Sirius said.
Now picking his words very carefully, Remus explained, “He said something to me “ I guess he heard you two joking a little about it “ an unfavorable comment about rats; you know how your approval means a lot to him.”
“Honestly I don’t remember what we said,” James said thoughtfully. “Do you Sirius?”
“It’s possible. Who really likes rats? Just take a look at his tail. It looks just like a worm!”
“There you go, then,” Remus said looking at them as if they were very dimwitted.
“You mean something like that?” James asked.
“Yes. Peter is very sensitive.”
“What do you want us to do?” James asked.
“Throw a rat appreciation party in the common room?” Sirius proposed jokingly.
“That could be fun,” James agreed.
Remus sighed with a shake of his head. “Just be more aware.”
“He’s got to learn to be less sensitive,” James muttered.
“The real world will eat him alive,” Sirius predicted.
“We’re his friends. Anyway, I’ve been thinking of how his small form may be very useful.”
Sirius and James looked at Remus in interest waiting for him to elaborate.
“I’ve noticed smaller animals can easily scurry past the branches of the Whomping Willow without a problem “ and even though using a stick to prod the knot works, there’s always a danger of one of us getting hurt. Peter in his rat form could freeze the tree for us. Not only will it be safer, but also less noticeable.”
“Fair idea,” James conceded.
Sirius nodded, thinking it unnecessary of Remus to think of a way to make Peter feel better, but Sirius wouldn’t miss having to risk bodily harm just to get into the tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack.
“We’ll tell him tomorrow then,” Remus stated and the three boys continued talking until it was time to prepare for bed.
Leila wasted no time in finding the Love Potion she wanted Severus to concoct. In the middle of the week, she had demanded his presence through a note delivered by a trembling first year. They’d met in the classroom they had used for the first dueling lesson. A little too close to Professor Keenan’s office in Severus’s opinion, but who was he to argue. Leila was the one calling the shots and they had been able to finish business without being caught. She had shown him a thin book with only seven potions inside. The book had a new appearance, but by the wording and font type Snape could tell it had been written long ago.
Now Severus had limited knowledge about Love Potions, but from what he did know, the one Leila had picked was based on magical properties that he was not familiar with. Leila had informed him that unlike a lot of the more popular Love Potions this one would mimic the real effects of falling in love, whilst the others created merely infatuation. Generally the infatuation was so sudden and intense that those close to the person would figure out a Love Potion was the cause of the strange behavior. Leila was probably right to worry with Black always around Potter and the other two never far behind, one of them would be bound to notice such a change.
The potion was difficult, Severus could tell just by the first glance, but not impossible. The ingredients did befuddle him; they were rare and he was slightly worried about mixing some of them together. If Severus wasn’t mistaken, and he wasn’t mistaken often when it came to potions, some of the ingredients were highly regulated, and even illegal. Leila told him she had already procured all the ingredients and he was not to worry about anything ‘blowing up’ as long as he followed the instructions.
After Leila was assured that Severus could brew her Love Potion, she immediately went into gear to fulfill her side of the bargain. Leila had no trouble finding Slytherins willing to back him up for an ambush. There was Travers, Mulciber, and Rosier from his year; Wilkes, Henley, and Jenson from sixth year; and Bennet, Lestrange, and Collie from seventh year.
Snape had chosen a Friday afternoon for the attack. After years of keeping an eye on Potter and Black, he knew on a Friday afternoon, as long as the weather wasn’t too frigid or rainy, the boys would go for a jaunt outside. To his amazement, because plans rarely worked in his favor, that afternoon turned out to be the perfect setup. The weather was not sunny or warm enough to attract loads of students outside, which would have increased the likelihood of the ambush being witnessed, but dry enough to entice the particular quartet that Severus had picked as his target.
The other nine Slytherins had gone on ahead to hide among the trees and rocks in the area that Severus knew the four boys generally hung out in. Humans were creatures of habit and to Snape’s relief Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew headed straight to the same spot they always went to.
Severus crept behind them, having cast a Silencing Charm on himself. Pettigrew was matching the stride of Potter with Lupin slightly behind them, and Black brought up the rear, looking pensive. Since Black was trailing behind the group, Snape decided that he would be his focal target. It did not escape Severus’s notice that Pettigrew was gesturing excitedly toward the Whomping Willow. Though their voices were too low to hear, Severus could not help wondering why they were interested in such a dangerous magical plant, and he stored away the information for later.
Snape took deep breath before shouting, “How does it feel to be bested by your little brother, Black?”
The words had an instantaneous effect. Black whipped around and the other three stopped in their tracks, turning toward Snape too. It wasn’t hard to rile Black; sometimes it was actually so easy that it was disappointing.
“You’ll be the first to know when it happens,” Sirius replied, annoyed, though not on guard. After all, Black had no way of knowing how outnumbered he would soon be. He only saw the one Slytherin in front of him “ a Slytherin without his wand out- and knowing he had three friends watching his back, there would be little cause for worry.
“Hasn’t he? I don’t see you on the Quidditch team and he is. I told Reggie how proud his big brother must be.” Snape didn’t know what possessed him to shorten Regulus’s name, as Reggie sounded like some ridiculous nickname that some teenage girl might find endearing.
Sirius clenched his hands and spat out, “I’m not the one who tried out for the team in our second year and didn’t make it, Snivellus.”
Severus felt his own temper begin to flair. He wasn’t sure what irked him more, the loathsome nickname or the reminder of the humiliating experience of believing he possessed enough athleticism to be a Quidditch player. His twelve-year old self had hoped being a Quidditch star would impress Lily. Quidditch players in Hogwarts were held above the rest of the student body and Snape had always craved such status “ but it had been a ludicrous idea on his part to hope to achieve it through sports.
“And why is that? Afraid of failure? Or maybe of flying?” questioned Severus.
Severus could see Lupin furrowing his brow. It must have looked to the prefect that Snape was foolishly fishing for a fight that he’d surely lose.
Little did Lupin know-
“Now!” Snape yelled. Bursts of light descended upon the Gryffindors from all directions. Lupin was hit first and he fell down clutching at his neck like he was choking. Pettigrew was next and he staggered down cradling his arm. Black was hit by a series of Slashing Hexes, mostly from Severus and Lestrange, who was hidden closest to where Sirius stood. Black’s left area of his robe- from the top of his shoulder to below his knee “ had been ripped by the hexes and red gashes showed where the magic had lacerated his skin. Potter had ducked and as he stood up, Severus could see he had emerged from the first onslaught miraculously unharmed.
In a proper duel both Black and Potter would have probably beat Snape. Though Severus had a broader knowledge of spells than either boy, especially those considered dark, his natural instinct, stamina, and reflexes were not up to par. In this situation, he would easily have the upper hand.
Black then made the mistake of turning slightly back to check on his friends. The gesture might have been noble on paper, but in the end foolish for in four long strides Severus had his wand jabbed into Black’s back.
“Turn around, Black,” Snape hissed. As Sirius turned around slowly, Severus could see he had taken his wand out, but it was as useless as any piece of wood found on the forest floor. Snape moved his wand up deftly so that it now rested lightly at Black’s throat. Severus smirked as Black’s breathing quickened. He knew from various readings that the throat was a very sensitive part of the body and even a light pressure could make the victim feel breathless.
Snape felt in his element, he craved power such as this, to have his enemies cowering before him. Though Black was far from cowering, he certainly looked apprehensive and that was enough for now. Severus looked up as the other nine Slytherins emerged from their hiding spots circling Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Lupin was now standing, though Pettigrew stayed fixed to the ground. Lupin and Potter quickly adopted defense stances.
Rabastan Lestrange, a large and brutish boy, strode up behind Black. Without pretense, Lestrange twisted Black’s left arm, which was already bleeding from the Slashing Hexes, painfully behind; hard enough to cause Black to cry out softly and drop his wand. Potter and Lupin moved forward instinctively, but there was not much they could do for the moment.
“Drop your wands,” Lestrange bellowed at Potter and Black, as his wand caressed Black’s cheek, “and I won’t do any permanent damage to pretty boy-”
No one expected Lupin to send the next spell flying and it headed near enough to Lestrange to startle him enough to loosen his hold on Black. As if the Gryffindors had somehow communicated silently, Black instantly ducked out of Lestrange’s grip and turned, punching Lestrange straight in the face. The two began to tussle “ Muggle style. Severus watched it interestedly as the two rolled around in the grass trying to injure the other. On one hand Lestrange had strength and brute, while Black had agility and instinct.
That’s when chaos erupted. Spells began flying everywhere “ though only about twenty percent of them hit their mark. Above the din, his eyes still focused on Black and Lestrange, he heard Travers as he loudly cried, “Levicorpus!”
It hit Pettigrew and the small boy was strung up by his ankles, his arms and legs flailing about. Snape smirked; it was great thing to see a spell you invented put into such good use. Potter, his robes singed and his hair messier than a bird’s nest having just dodged two spells, locked his eyes with Snape.
“Levicorpus!”
That’s when things began to go wrong.
Snape froze. The pride he felt at seeing Travers use his spell was quickly doused. Hearing his spell - his spell- come out of Potter’s mouth, felt as if a bucket of water had been dumped on his head. His surprise quickly turned to anger, as his world turned upside down. It was the first time Severus had felt the effects of his invented spell, and he felt his face turn red as the blood rushed down to his head and he waved his arms about helplessly as the cool fall air kissed his bare legs.
“Nifty spell there. Thanks, Travers,” Potter called arrogantly.
Lestrange had been too busy with Black to notice what had transpired. After finally pinning Black to the ground on his stomach, Lestrange glanced around in surprise at the mess around him. Lestrange was putting his full weight into Black’s injured side, and even hung upside down, Severus could see Black was in pain.
Before Snape had a chance to wonder how he’d get down, it started down pouring. Snape had been so intent on the ambush’s success; he had failed to notice the clouds rolling in or the darkening sky.
“Let’s get out of here!” someone yelled, and that was all it took.
Stupid Slytherins and their need to save their own skins.
Noticing the retreat of their assailants, Lupin was able to get Pettigrew down. Snape had no true friends among the Slytherins and quite a few passed on their way back to the castle without helping him down.
“Get me down from here, Lestrange!” Snape ordered through gritted teeth. Lestrange looked forlornly at his prey. Black was still struggling to get free beneath him. As Lestrange stood up, Black rolled on his back with a groan and Lestrange hit Sirius once more in the gut, with enough force that Snape winced along with Black. “We’ll finish this later blood traitor!”
“Finite Incantatem!” spoke Lestrange and Severus fell ungraciously to the ground. Lestrange didn’t give him a hand to help him up, which was fine since Snape would have brushed it off anyway.
They jogged up the hill toward the castle and Severus couldn’t help turning around for one last look at the Gryffindors. He wasn’t worried about retaliation at that moment: Gryffindors wouldn’t hex someone retreating or with their backs turned.
Predictably, Potter was already by Black’s side and was helping Sirius stand up. They certainly look worse for wear. From afar, Black’s injuries were the most prominent with the left side of his robes in tatters, swollen lip and bruised cheek.
“Are you coming?” Lestrange called. “We got them good enough. No sense getting wet.”
Severus nodded, though something was preventing him from truly enjoying his success. He knew it was stupid, but Potter using his spell “ Potter knowing his spell “ was absolutely infuriating. Severus wished for a Time Turner, so he could prevent himself from ever showing off the spell to his roommates. He’d meant to impress them, and he had, but that had been short lived and now Potter knew of it. Getting angry at his roommates though would do him no favor, so Snape tunneled it toward Potter and Black.
With a renewed energy, Severus headed to his room; he would brew that Love Potion for Leila as soon as possible.
Dark Side of the Moon by Lioness06
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