Enlightenment in a Dark Souls Heart
By Katia
Remus and James were both mad at Sirius for what he had done. Sure they thought any prank on Snape was fun, but this bordered on betraying a friend. They still talked to him though in slightly cold voices that would have put icicles on Prongs' antlers.
The day after the incident Remus had come out of the Hospital Wing, bruised, stiff and aching to come face to face with Snape. He watched as Snape's onyx gaze slid form terrified to something that resembled pity as his eyes roamed the bruised, pained and fatigued face of his enemy. The eyes flashed.
"Don't think I'll keep your secret-"
Remus flashed the soul of the wolf still running in his veins. "According to the head-master-"
"I don't give a damn what the head master said." Snape over road him, "This isn't petty rivalry anymore. I'll get you back, Moony."
Remus flinched as he remembered. It was all well and good when his friends called him that, it was quite another when Snape did. Snape had kept true to his word (probably the first time in his life).
The following week became hell for Remus for Snape had poured undiluted Wolfsbane extract on his hands. He had had to run out of Potions before anyone saw the red, shiny quality of his hands. The next day, Remus, who had been too shameful to go to Madam Pomfrey, was rather quiet and subdued, that is until Snape had shoved a handful of Sickles into his hands.
He had told Sirius and James to butt out, he knew Snape would go to worse extremes if they did anything.
Today, the day of the full moon, Sirius, James and Remus walked into the Gryffindor table to find all the cutlery pure silver and the table reeking of Wolfsbane. Covering his nose, Remus sighed and fell gracelessly into the nearest chair. Sirius was literally hopping in rage.
"...That idiotic, low-life, son-of a-"
"Padfoot!" James cut Sirius' tirade short. And yet he continued.
"Look, Remus, I don't care what you told us. This is going too far, I'm going to have a talk with that low-life, ground crawling, snake loving bastard-" James cut in again.
"Sirius, Remus doesn't want us to do anything! Just like he didn't ask you to let Snape into our little secret. Sure, I'm all for knocking him off his broom, but only if Remus wants us to. Why don't you think before you act? For once take into consideration his feelings, will you?" James stopped and pulled out his wand. Sirius flinched. Smirking, he pointed it at Remus' crockery and the silverware turned a bit shinier. He looked up at James quizzically.
"'S not silver anymore, just looks it." He said, shrugging.
Remus felt a rush of gratitude towards James. Only he would think of Transfiguring it to chrome so no one would suspect. He showed it with a smile.
By this time the Slytherins were coming in, Snape in the lead. As they sat down, Remus took a bold step and (after tapping it several times, just to make sure) picked up the spoon and took a very obvious mouthful so that Snape could see.
Later that day, during break, Remus could feel himself being lost. Leaning against the wall he called out to James, "Hold up...will you?" A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and he felt weak. James turned and by the look on his face, he looked bad.
"You need to go to Pomfrey-"
Remus nodded for he felt the moon induced tides wash over him. Heaving himself off the wall, he stumbled and fell into James who caught him deftly. "Come on, your in a bad way." They had only been walking for about 5 minutes when he felt much better, though not quite there. James was still for the idea of going to Pomfrey, but Remus refused.
"I feel fine, really, I do." He told James repeatedly. They met up with Sirius in Charms and all was well until Lunch.
James, Sirius and Remus left lunch early in search of Peter, who always disappeared before the full moon. After a search of the Library they heard the bell ring.
"Damn it, stupid rat..." Sirius could be heard ranting in the corridor, never the less they turned and started to head to their next class. James wasn't paying attention to them. He was still looking for Peter and in the process found Lily.
"Hold up a minute." He said vaguely. Sirius rolled his eyes, then made a face like he was he didn't have a care in the world, like he existed for one thing...
"Stop it, you look like James." Remus said, laughing.
Sirius wiped the look off crossed his arms and said, "That was the point! He always looks like that when he sees Lily. It's almost... Scary."
Remus shook his head; Sirius would never understand love. Not even if he tried.
"Aha! There's the rat bastard we're looking for." And Sirius disappeared, apparently spotting Peter. Remus shrugged. He spotted Snape sweeping down the corridor. He turned his back; he didn't feel like dealing with Snape right now. He could see Sirius stalking Peter and the sight was laughable. Laughing at the sight of Peter, running with his arms in front of him, Sirius calmly walking/stalking him.
A sudden bone-jarring, world-tipping shove made him greet the floor with an "Oof"
"Get out of the way, Lupus."
Remus flashed everything he had pent up for the last few weeks broke out and Remus lunged at Snape with a snarl so animalistic that it reverberated off the stone walls. As he landed on Snape and they came crashing down to the earth, Remus continued to fall through darkness. He saw a pair of gold eyes staring triumphantly up at him, watching his descent. He tried to fight, but to no avail. It was too close to the full moon and he was too angry. James and Sirius (who had caught Peter, but Peter, in a stroke of brilliance, transformed and run off.) tried to pry him off Snape, but they couldn't. They knew that Remus had fallen to the wolf and to talk to him would be futile.
When they finally did get Remus off Snape, he looked bad. Remus had no mark on him; indeed, he looked quite normal, all except for the wolf's gold eyes. Snape on the other hand, looked horrid. Eyes blackening nose broken and bloodied, his split lip curling into a sneer of surprise.
"Remus, come on..." James said, trying to pull him away. He didn't move.
"Moony..." Remus' ears pricked up, visibly. "Come on, come on." It was like calling a dog. The crowd that had gathered was dispersing to their classes quickly, leaving Sirius, James, the still wolf-minded Remus and Snape very alone in the corridor. With a small nudge Sirius made Remus move. He growled at Snape, who had the strangest look on his massacred face. With some more cajoling, they led Remus up to the Hospital Wing.
Snape, most unfortunately, was already there, Madam Pomfrey bustling around him. "What happened?" Snape pointed at Remus, who was looking at him maliciously. "Fighting in the corridors! Explain yourself. Now." She said, looking pointedly at Remus.
Sirius jumped in, "He can't."
Madam Pomfrey looked sharply at Sirius, "Why not?"
"That's not Remus, it's the wolf." James said, sombrely. "Anyway, he only jumped Snape because he's being harassed."
Pomfrey cocked an eyebrow at Snape and said, "How so?"
Sirius was in his element, "Oh nothing much, really. Just splashing Wolfsbane all over him, something involving silver... Transfiguring all the silverware to actual silver... Shoving him around and calling him 'Werewolf', minor things, really. Nothing to get worked up about." His voice was non-chalant but his eyes reeked venom.
Pomfrey was looking at Snape with disbelief. "Well, now that we've seen the nasty side of you..." She said huffily, "We can deal the punishment out correctly." She pointed her wand at him again and all his injuries came back, vividly. James was choking back laughter.
Turning her back on him, she kneeled in front of Remus and shined her Lumosed wand in his eyes. Growling faintly, he retreated from the light.
"It's worse then I thought."
Sirius and James jumped up. "What d'you mean?"
"Look at his eyes." She said, looking grim.
Leaning close they saw what they had already known. His eyes were gold.
"He's let the wolf take over him. Surrendered."
They looked at Pomfrey, very, very seriously. "We- we will be able to get him back, right? I mean, he won't be like this forever, will he?"
For the first time, Snape saw her shrug. "It'll be hard but it can be done. I suggest you get him back before the full moon or we may never see him in his right mind again."
With that she left to her office, leaving Sirius and James very alone.
"Sirius, go to the dorm and get anything that might help, I'll stay here and- and- talk to him."
"Ok, I'll be right back-"
"And Sirius?"
"Yeah?"
"Hurry back, won't you?"
Sirius could see the discomfort in his friend's face, "Sure."
Sirius showed up 10 minutes later with some pictures, letters and other various things.
"What did you do? Go through his trunk?" James said, awed at the amount of things Sirius had scrounged up.
"Yep." Sirius said, without the slightest hint of culpability. "Look, family pictures, his father's watch, letters from Marilyn, and even a couple of things from Padfoot and Prongs."
"OK, OK, OK. Lets get started, shall we?"
Sirius nodded, and James picked up a picture.
"Remus, remember this? It's your Mother and Father, and your Brother- remember? Rom? You remember?" James started in a soft and soothing voice.
Sirius joined in. "Remember her? Marilyn? That girl you met off the pier last summer when we went swimming? The time I pushed Peter off and he nearly drowned?"
"Come on Moony, you remember, fight the wolf damn it."
"Ok, remember when you and James were looking for Padfoot and Peter said it wasn't me and-"
"Ix-nay"
"Huh? Oh, right"
Snape caught little snippets of James' and Sirius' desperate one-sided conversation with Remus. He began to see how close his enemies were. Began to see that they would die for each other. They had something he didn't and that was true friendship. After hours of trying they got a response.
"Yeah and remember that one time when all of us went camping with Lily, Rosemerta and Marilyn? And they were all complaining that it was too-"
"...And you proved your point by biting him in the leg." They response was forced and barely audible but he said something none-the-less.
"Remus! Moony!!!!"
"Keep talking! Come on, stay with us, damn it!"
Snape heard a very loud 'SMACK!' and a very loud snarl...
"OW, what the bloody hell d'you think your doing? Shoit that hurt..." Remus said in a very scratchy voice, his deep green and brown streaked eyes reproachful.
At Sirius' and James' whooping and hollering, Snape finally understood how very hard it was to be a Werewolf, how great it was to have true friends. What it would be like to have friends like that. And it made him jealous beyond all he had ever felt before.
Severus Snape never forgot that night in the Hospital Wing, for the Shrieking Shack always reminded him. He never forgot the hate he had for the 'Marauders' and when Lupin came back to haunt him, it made it worse.
AN:~) HEY! Haven't posted for an eternity... Oops... Well, this just smacked me upside the head at 3 in the morn. Yes Daphne, I know I'm supposed to be writing/typing Fallen Angel, but I've got Writer's Block that is literally unbreakable on the damned thing... Anyway, didn't spend much time on this, hope you like please R/R and keep writing!
By Katia
Remus and James were both mad at Sirius for what he had done. Sure they thought any prank on Snape was fun, but this bordered on betraying a friend. They still talked to him though in slightly cold voices that would have put icicles on Prongs' antlers.
The day after the incident Remus had come out of the Hospital Wing, bruised, stiff and aching to come face to face with Snape. He watched as Snape's onyx gaze slid form terrified to something that resembled pity as his eyes roamed the bruised, pained and fatigued face of his enemy. The eyes flashed.
"Don't think I'll keep your secret-"
Remus flashed the soul of the wolf still running in his veins. "According to the head-master-"
"I don't give a damn what the head master said." Snape over road him, "This isn't petty rivalry anymore. I'll get you back, Moony."
Remus flinched as he remembered. It was all well and good when his friends called him that, it was quite another when Snape did. Snape had kept true to his word (probably the first time in his life).
The following week became hell for Remus for Snape had poured undiluted Wolfsbane extract on his hands. He had had to run out of Potions before anyone saw the red, shiny quality of his hands. The next day, Remus, who had been too shameful to go to Madam Pomfrey, was rather quiet and subdued, that is until Snape had shoved a handful of Sickles into his hands.
He had told Sirius and James to butt out, he knew Snape would go to worse extremes if they did anything.
Today, the day of the full moon, Sirius, James and Remus walked into the Gryffindor table to find all the cutlery pure silver and the table reeking of Wolfsbane. Covering his nose, Remus sighed and fell gracelessly into the nearest chair. Sirius was literally hopping in rage.
"...That idiotic, low-life, son-of a-"
"Padfoot!" James cut Sirius' tirade short. And yet he continued.
"Look, Remus, I don't care what you told us. This is going too far, I'm going to have a talk with that low-life, ground crawling, snake loving bastard-" James cut in again.
"Sirius, Remus doesn't want us to do anything! Just like he didn't ask you to let Snape into our little secret. Sure, I'm all for knocking him off his broom, but only if Remus wants us to. Why don't you think before you act? For once take into consideration his feelings, will you?" James stopped and pulled out his wand. Sirius flinched. Smirking, he pointed it at Remus' crockery and the silverware turned a bit shinier. He looked up at James quizzically.
"'S not silver anymore, just looks it." He said, shrugging.
Remus felt a rush of gratitude towards James. Only he would think of Transfiguring it to chrome so no one would suspect. He showed it with a smile.
By this time the Slytherins were coming in, Snape in the lead. As they sat down, Remus took a bold step and (after tapping it several times, just to make sure) picked up the spoon and took a very obvious mouthful so that Snape could see.
Later that day, during break, Remus could feel himself being lost. Leaning against the wall he called out to James, "Hold up...will you?" A cold sweat had broken out on his forehead and he felt weak. James turned and by the look on his face, he looked bad.
"You need to go to Pomfrey-"
Remus nodded for he felt the moon induced tides wash over him. Heaving himself off the wall, he stumbled and fell into James who caught him deftly. "Come on, your in a bad way." They had only been walking for about 5 minutes when he felt much better, though not quite there. James was still for the idea of going to Pomfrey, but Remus refused.
"I feel fine, really, I do." He told James repeatedly. They met up with Sirius in Charms and all was well until Lunch.
James, Sirius and Remus left lunch early in search of Peter, who always disappeared before the full moon. After a search of the Library they heard the bell ring.
"Damn it, stupid rat..." Sirius could be heard ranting in the corridor, never the less they turned and started to head to their next class. James wasn't paying attention to them. He was still looking for Peter and in the process found Lily.
"Hold up a minute." He said vaguely. Sirius rolled his eyes, then made a face like he was he didn't have a care in the world, like he existed for one thing...
"Stop it, you look like James." Remus said, laughing.
Sirius wiped the look off crossed his arms and said, "That was the point! He always looks like that when he sees Lily. It's almost... Scary."
Remus shook his head; Sirius would never understand love. Not even if he tried.
"Aha! There's the rat bastard we're looking for." And Sirius disappeared, apparently spotting Peter. Remus shrugged. He spotted Snape sweeping down the corridor. He turned his back; he didn't feel like dealing with Snape right now. He could see Sirius stalking Peter and the sight was laughable. Laughing at the sight of Peter, running with his arms in front of him, Sirius calmly walking/stalking him.
A sudden bone-jarring, world-tipping shove made him greet the floor with an "Oof"
"Get out of the way, Lupus."
Remus flashed everything he had pent up for the last few weeks broke out and Remus lunged at Snape with a snarl so animalistic that it reverberated off the stone walls. As he landed on Snape and they came crashing down to the earth, Remus continued to fall through darkness. He saw a pair of gold eyes staring triumphantly up at him, watching his descent. He tried to fight, but to no avail. It was too close to the full moon and he was too angry. James and Sirius (who had caught Peter, but Peter, in a stroke of brilliance, transformed and run off.) tried to pry him off Snape, but they couldn't. They knew that Remus had fallen to the wolf and to talk to him would be futile.
When they finally did get Remus off Snape, he looked bad. Remus had no mark on him; indeed, he looked quite normal, all except for the wolf's gold eyes. Snape on the other hand, looked horrid. Eyes blackening nose broken and bloodied, his split lip curling into a sneer of surprise.
"Remus, come on..." James said, trying to pull him away. He didn't move.
"Moony..." Remus' ears pricked up, visibly. "Come on, come on." It was like calling a dog. The crowd that had gathered was dispersing to their classes quickly, leaving Sirius, James, the still wolf-minded Remus and Snape very alone in the corridor. With a small nudge Sirius made Remus move. He growled at Snape, who had the strangest look on his massacred face. With some more cajoling, they led Remus up to the Hospital Wing.
Snape, most unfortunately, was already there, Madam Pomfrey bustling around him. "What happened?" Snape pointed at Remus, who was looking at him maliciously. "Fighting in the corridors! Explain yourself. Now." She said, looking pointedly at Remus.
Sirius jumped in, "He can't."
Madam Pomfrey looked sharply at Sirius, "Why not?"
"That's not Remus, it's the wolf." James said, sombrely. "Anyway, he only jumped Snape because he's being harassed."
Pomfrey cocked an eyebrow at Snape and said, "How so?"
Sirius was in his element, "Oh nothing much, really. Just splashing Wolfsbane all over him, something involving silver... Transfiguring all the silverware to actual silver... Shoving him around and calling him 'Werewolf', minor things, really. Nothing to get worked up about." His voice was non-chalant but his eyes reeked venom.
Pomfrey was looking at Snape with disbelief. "Well, now that we've seen the nasty side of you..." She said huffily, "We can deal the punishment out correctly." She pointed her wand at him again and all his injuries came back, vividly. James was choking back laughter.
Turning her back on him, she kneeled in front of Remus and shined her Lumosed wand in his eyes. Growling faintly, he retreated from the light.
"It's worse then I thought."
Sirius and James jumped up. "What d'you mean?"
"Look at his eyes." She said, looking grim.
Leaning close they saw what they had already known. His eyes were gold.
"He's let the wolf take over him. Surrendered."
They looked at Pomfrey, very, very seriously. "We- we will be able to get him back, right? I mean, he won't be like this forever, will he?"
For the first time, Snape saw her shrug. "It'll be hard but it can be done. I suggest you get him back before the full moon or we may never see him in his right mind again."
With that she left to her office, leaving Sirius and James very alone.
"Sirius, go to the dorm and get anything that might help, I'll stay here and- and- talk to him."
"Ok, I'll be right back-"
"And Sirius?"
"Yeah?"
"Hurry back, won't you?"
Sirius could see the discomfort in his friend's face, "Sure."
Sirius showed up 10 minutes later with some pictures, letters and other various things.
"What did you do? Go through his trunk?" James said, awed at the amount of things Sirius had scrounged up.
"Yep." Sirius said, without the slightest hint of culpability. "Look, family pictures, his father's watch, letters from Marilyn, and even a couple of things from Padfoot and Prongs."
"OK, OK, OK. Lets get started, shall we?"
Sirius nodded, and James picked up a picture.
"Remus, remember this? It's your Mother and Father, and your Brother- remember? Rom? You remember?" James started in a soft and soothing voice.
Sirius joined in. "Remember her? Marilyn? That girl you met off the pier last summer when we went swimming? The time I pushed Peter off and he nearly drowned?"
"Come on Moony, you remember, fight the wolf damn it."
"Ok, remember when you and James were looking for Padfoot and Peter said it wasn't me and-"
"Ix-nay"
"Huh? Oh, right"
Snape caught little snippets of James' and Sirius' desperate one-sided conversation with Remus. He began to see how close his enemies were. Began to see that they would die for each other. They had something he didn't and that was true friendship. After hours of trying they got a response.
"Yeah and remember that one time when all of us went camping with Lily, Rosemerta and Marilyn? And they were all complaining that it was too-"
"...And you proved your point by biting him in the leg." They response was forced and barely audible but he said something none-the-less.
"Remus! Moony!!!!"
"Keep talking! Come on, stay with us, damn it!"
Snape heard a very loud 'SMACK!' and a very loud snarl...
"OW, what the bloody hell d'you think your doing? Shoit that hurt..." Remus said in a very scratchy voice, his deep green and brown streaked eyes reproachful.
At Sirius' and James' whooping and hollering, Snape finally understood how very hard it was to be a Werewolf, how great it was to have true friends. What it would be like to have friends like that. And it made him jealous beyond all he had ever felt before.
Severus Snape never forgot that night in the Hospital Wing, for the Shrieking Shack always reminded him. He never forgot the hate he had for the 'Marauders' and when Lupin came back to haunt him, it made it worse.
AN:~) HEY! Haven't posted for an eternity... Oops... Well, this just smacked me upside the head at 3 in the morn. Yes Daphne, I know I'm supposed to be writing/typing Fallen Angel, but I've got Writer's Block that is literally unbreakable on the damned thing... Anyway, didn't spend much time on this, hope you like please R/R and keep writing!