Part of the Emotions Challenge (emotion: hurt), and the Year Long Scavenger Hunt ([F03] Write a story with at least two chapters longer than 1,000 words or a 2,000 word one-shot based around your NOTP) on HPFC.

Just Forget Me

James had been the cruelest. There wasn't any provocation, just a seething hatred toward one another. Sirius only indulged this little rivalry because he knew what was at stake. His best friend's affections for Lily Evans was widely known throughout Hogwarts, but James didn't know that. Apparently, Lily didn't either. So when James decided to take off his nemesis' trousers in front of half the fifth years, Lily was not impressed. Sirius didn't really care one way or the other. It wasn't until after Sirius became the punching bag for Snape's actions that Sirius realized how dangerous this kid could be.

"Detention, Mr. Black!" Professor Flitwick announced to the entire class, who snickered at Sirius' flabbergasted expression.

Fuck. Snape had set up a trap for him, and Sirius had been stupid enough to be goaded. It wasn't until Snivellus had snuck away to the back of the classroom that Sirius realized the dare to use a Banishing Charm on the professor's desk quill and parchment was a horrible idea.

A string of unfortunate events led to the self-proclaimed Marauders enduring a string of detentions as far as the eye could see, except for Remus, of course. For whatever reason, Snivellus could not goad the young wizard into one of his sneaky ruses. Perhaps Remus was simply to intelligent. Sirius wondered absently what that made him.

But then there was a point at which Sirius had had enough. Detention was getting tedious and even the teachers weren't sure what other punishments could be thrown at the troublesome boys. So, Sirius had a plan. A plan that would rid their lives of the pestilence that was Severus Snape once and for all. This plan may have involved a certain werewolf and a little trap of his own, but Sirius wasn't overly worried about the consequences. If all played out as it should, they could simply say that it was an accident that Snape fell into the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, that he had come across it himself. It wasn't as though he would be around to dispute the story.

But the night of the full moon came, and the plan was in place. James looked a little unsure of himself, but Sirius reminded him of all the trouble Snivellus caused and their mutual hatred. James seemed to relax a little, but there was still something in his eyes. Sirius decided to ignore it. This was his night of vengeance. He was going to enjoy it.

Severus felt the trap as soon as it had been set but, despite his assurances to himself that this would be a bad idea, he felt his curiosity overweighed his ability to think clearly. There was the Whomping Willow, a giant tree with branches that swayed in the breeze. The headmaster had said that this was a very dangerous tree, and Davy Gudgeon proved that when he had been dared to touch the trunk and came away with one less eye than he had had previously. Well, the willow didn't look at all dangerous to Severus. The trees that he could see from the forest were swaying in the exact same way.

Just then, a rat swept by his feet. Severus recoiled from it, but it was so strange that a rat should be on this portion of the grounds at this time of night that he followed it with his eyes until it flew down a hole in the ground near the trunk of the willow. As he had followed it with his eyes, his feet began to follow the rat's tracks, in complete disregard for the Whomping Willow's dangerous reputation. Severus was nearly to the hole in the ground—a rather large hole that could possibly fit an entire person—when he felt something behind him. He turned around quickly, his wand at the ready, but it wasn't a person at all. It was a big, black dog, whose vicious bark sent Severus tripping backwards over his own feet. Seeing as there was nowhere else to fall, Severus' entire body dropped into the hole and he tumbled down into the darkness. He waved his wand so that dirt covered the entrance of the hole, eager for something solid to be between him and the dog.

As he gathered himself up, he realized the hole was a tunnel, and he barely had to lean over in order to stand up. He walked away down the tunnel, but suddenly realized that whatever was at the other end of the tunnel may have been even more terrifying than what had been at the entrance.

Severus stopped, straightened out his robes and inhaled deeply. The smell of dirt filled his nose. He was just about to go on when he heard a howl so much more vicious than the dog's bark that his entire body froze and the hair on his arms stood on end. Suddenly, Potter came out from around a corner of the tunnel. He was running.

"Potter, what—"

But his nemesis had no time for questions. He grabbed Severus' robes and hauled him down to the tunnel's entrance. With a flick of his wand, the dirt that had covered the hole was swept away, and Severus was carried through into the dark grounds of Hogwarts.

"What are you doing?" Severus spat, shrugging Potter's hand off his robes.

"Saving your bloody life, you miserable little toerag," Potter said, and with another flick of his wand he sealed the entrance to the tunnel in dirt again.

"What's down there?" he asked, trying hard not to sound frightened.

Out of the shadows of the willow, Black came sauntering up to them with narrowed eyes at Potter. "It would have been the death of you," he said, "so stop snooping where your abnormally large nose doesn't belong."

When he got back to the Slytherin boy's dormitories, Severus wasn't able to shut his eyes the entire night. James Potter had just saved his life. He would never forgive him for that.

Sirius was less than thrilled that his plan had been thwarted by his own best friend. But there was no use denying that the consequences of his plan would have been far worse than they had foreseen. Both James and Sirius never told Remus about their trap for Snivellus. He simply didn't need to know, because if he did, there would be so much cursing even James and Sirius would be blushing.

But in the Great Hall a couple mornings later, Sirius had gotten a letter from his mother that made all of the unpleasant thoughts from that night fade away. Walburga would be hosting a celebratory luncheon at the Black manor over the Christmas holiday and both of her sons would be obligated to attend. The celebration, of course, had everything to do with her second son and nothing to do with him. He began to plan some kind of escape from the commitment, but at the end of the letter it read: You will attend, Sirius, and you will behave accordingly. Sirius gagged loudly.

"Did you just eat one of the stuffed plums?" asked James. "That was poor judgement, mate."

He didn't tell his friends about the Christmas cheer until the day the Hogwarts Express was to pick up those going back home for the holiday. They whined and complained that Sirius would be the only one of them who was going home, and they had had a lot of mischievous things planned that would make the current caretaker wish he held a different position. He didn't tell them that he was going home because of the stupid luncheon, but he did catch James' wondering eyes searching his face for some explanation. Sirius shook his head just a bit so that James would know to drop it.

The Hogwarts Express was a great deal quieter than when he came from or went to school in the spring or fall. It was almost an eerie silence. Ominous. But Sirius had convinced himself that—somehow—this luncheon would be over quickly, that he wouldn't have to see anyone from his unpleasant family, and that he could simply drink his troubles away with the stored Firewhiskey that was kept in the cellar of his cousin's gigantic, over-the-top house… so over-the-top that they called it a fucking manor.

Only the last of that list was true. After saying a very uncouth 'hello' to all of the miserable people that walked through the door for the first half an hour, Sirius had gone directly to the cellar, grabbed two bottles of Old Ogden's and hid in one of the three broom closets of Black Manor. He was certain he wouldn't be disturbed in there, because the only ones who would want to use a broom in this stuffy old mansion would be the enslaved house elves.

And then the person whom Sirius would have liked to see the absolute least opened the closet door.

Severus balked. He was certain that these stupid little broom closets, at least, would have been void of guests. Then he realized who he was looking at. He sat on the floor with his legs spread out before him, his tie loosened around his neck, the sleeves of his white oxford hiked up to his biceps, and a bottle of Firewhiskey in his hand. He was staring up at Severus with a menacing look in his eyes. Sirius Black.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" he said.

Severus wasn't sure what to say back to him, but his keen mind came up with a retort quickly enough. "A poor, dejected Gryffindor," said Severus, smiling a little, "in a house of snakes."

Black stood up as if to rush him, but his balance faltered and he fell back against the wall of the closet. "You're a pillock, you know that?"

"At least I'm not drinking my way into oblivion because my parents made me attend a luncheon."

Black slid down to the floor again, placing the liquor bottle down. It fell over and the pitiful amount of Firewhiskey left in the bottle spilled out. Black took his wand out of his pocket, no doubt to clean up the mess, but Severus grabbed his wand hand to stop him before he did something stupid. His and Black's faces were so close they were almost touching. He noticed the whiskey-laden breath, but he also noticed his gray eyes that seemed fathomless when they weren't looking at you with utter contempt. He noticed the smallest hint of a grin that lit the left side of his mouth. He noticed the black stubble on his chin and upper lip that made him look almost charming but slightly roguish.

"You planning on cleaning that up," said Black, "or did you just want to stop me from making a fool of myself?"

With sudden urgency, Severus stood up from his crouched position beside Black, grabbed for his wand and used Scorgify to clean up the spill.

There was an awkward silence between the two before Sirius grabbed the second bottle of Firewhiskey he had stashed in the closet and held it up to Severus. He knew with all his heart that this was going to be a bad idea, but he did it anyway—for reasons unknown. He sat down next to Black and took the bottle from him. Placing his lips against the bottle's rim, he took a slow gulp of the whiskey. It burned going down and he choked a little. He looked over to see Black grinning. This angered him, so he took another gulp and tried his best not to choke this time. He failed. Handing the bottle back to Black, Severus wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"You're awful at drinking," Black said. He tipped the bottle back. His lips around the rim of that bottle were almost… sensual. Severus shook his head slightly. What had he just thought? Black was not sensual. If anything, he was an imprudent blighter with no sense of decency. He had tried to have him killed, hadn't he? After several gulps, Black lowered the bottle and handed it back to Severus.

He fought aimlessly with his own thoughts while he downed the fiery liquid. At last, Black took the bottle from him and said, "Woah, ya nutter. You're going to toss it all back up if you go that fast."

Black licked his lips before putting the bottle to his mouth again and Severus' oxford felt very hot. He must have had too much to drink, that was all. Sirius set the bottle on the floor. "You know what, Severus?"

He had just called him by his first name. He had never done that in all the years they'd known each other. "What?" he said lamely.

"You're not as much of a ponce as I thought."

He seethed inwardly, but before he could come up with some great retort, Sirius had placed his hand on Severus' cheek and his lips against his own. He didn't have time to calculate, to plan or even to think. He leaned into the kiss and opened his mouth a little so that Sirius could prod his tongue into and around his mouth. Severus' trousers suddenly felt too tight; his skin was blazing. It felt so good, it felt so incredibly wrong. Chancing it, Severus put his hand on the thigh of Sirius' trousers. He felt it—a change, like waking up suddenly from a nightmare. Severus opened his eyes and Sirius' were wide and shocked. He pulled away, ending the amazing snog they'd just had, and shoved Severus' hand off his leg.

"Firewhiskey," said Sirius, wiping his mouth. "That's all it was."

He said it as if that were the only explanation Severus needed. He needed so much more than that.

But he wouldn't get it.

Sirius left him in the broom closet with a half empty bottle of whiskey, a racing heartbeat, and a lot of unanswered questions.