Disclaimer: As much as I wish I own them, I don't own Severus, Sirius, James, Remus, and the rest of J.K. Rowling's wonderful and fantastic world.
"Here I stand, helpless and left for dead.
Cleave your eyes, so many days gone by.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right."
Breaking Benjamin, -Dance With the Devil
"Why can we never find any place to sit on this bloody train!?" Sirius demanded. "Six years, and we still never manage to find a completely empty compartment all to ourselves..."
"Nonsense, Sirius. We've always managed to find somewhere to sit." Remus said calmly, as he continued down the train with Sirius and James following.
James sighed, "But what'll we do if we have to...have to...sit in different compartments!?"
Sirius held up his hand in shock, "Then we'd...be APART! I can't stand the thought!" He burst into faked sobs, and James followed suit, both of them hanging off of each other for support in their 'misery', but mostly mirth. Their trunks clunked heavily along the long hallway, the sound stopping and starting as they paused at compartments to check if they were full.
"Found one." Remus called over his shoulder, having made his way to the end of the train. He walked into the empty compartment, save for the one person sitting by the window. "Mind if we sit here, Severus?" He asked with a smile.
The young Slytherin looked up startled, from the book he had been reading. He was silent for a moment, and shoved his long dark hair behind his ears with more force than necessary, then spoke. "You actually can stand to be in the same room with me?" He asked sarcastically.
Remus scowled at Severus. "I've told you my opinion about P--" He was cut off as Sirius poked him in the back to get him to move.
"C'mon Remus," He grinned, "Let us in. These trunks are heavy." Remus shifted to the side and Sirius came into the compartment, with James following closely. They both heaved their trunks up onto the rack and then collapsed on the seat. Remus followed suit, with considerably more grace and silence. Severus jumped to his feet angrily, setting the book beside him carefully beforehand.
"Get out." Severus snarled, glaring at them. "All of you."
Remus merely returned Severus' glare and sat down opposite him. "There's nowhere else to sit; the others are full."
Severus pointed at the door, fuming. "I don't care. Out."
Sirius glanced at James, who smirked, and then at Remus, who ignored him and stared out the window. He grinned, "You don't want to sit with us, Snivellus?" He asked quietly.
Severus hesitated, wondering if he should go find a seat elsewhere with some fellow Slytherins, then shook his head, "No. I was here first, and I'm asking you to leave. Now get."
James stood up from the seat and moved towards Severus so he couldn't get out of the small carriage they were in. Pulling out his wand, he flicked it and the door slid shut silently on well oiled hinges. Sirius pulled his wand out as well, and seeing Severus go for his, yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Severus' wand flew out of his hand, and Sirius caught it, grinning. Twirling it, he then pocketed them both. James replaced his wand and advanced towards Severus, and as Severus turned to face him, Sirius tackled him. He grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back, rendering Severus completely defenseless. James came closer until he was practically nose to nose with Severus. Confident brown eyes met with wary dark ones for a long moment. Without warning, James grabbed Severus' shoulder with one hand, and rammed his other into his stomach.
Severus grunted as James' fist connected with him, and he doubled over, gulping like a fish as he tried to draw in air. He finally managed to look up at James, who was still grinning. "Stand up, Snivelly." James said.
Severus didn't think he could stand at all if Sirius wasn't supporting him by holding his arms. As if Sirius had heard his thoughts, he let go of Severus' arms. He crashed to the floor, and laid there, panting.
James kicked Severus over onto his back, and Severus winced again, but stared up at him. His dark eyes were full of anger and hatred, but there was also fear in them now. He glanced over at Sirius, and immediately jumped back up angrily.
Sirius was leafing through the book that Severus had had, and grinned as he got part way through it. The text suddenly stopped, as though the author still had to finish writing it. He closed the book to look at the cover, which was blank, and stared at it for several seconds. He looked up at Severus, "Writing a book Snivellus? About what?" He dangled the book in front of Severus tauntingly.
Severus made a lunge for the book, but was yanked back as James wrapped his arm around his neck from behind and pulled back. Sirius kept smiling and repeated his question, "What's it about?"
Yanking on James' arm, Severus quietly said, "Potions."
Sirius nodded, "Ah...typical of you."
"Put it down, you mangy mongr--cckk..." Severus began angrily, but James pulled even tighter, cutting off his air. Severus yanked at him arm, but couldn't move it. James was too strong.
Sirius tossed it up and down, and moved closer to Severus, "Don't call me that, you slimy git of a bastard." He seemed very angry now, and tossed the book up and down again for a moment, "What if I didn't? What if I got rid of it for you?" Sirius smiled nastily. Severus' eyes widened angrily, but he couldn't speak. He was still pulling on James' arm, and he was starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of oxygen.
Opening the window, Sirius stuck his head out and double-checked that no one else on the Hogwarts Express was looking out either. Then he made sure there weren't any Muggle buildings or people around. Pulling his head back in, he smiled wickedly at Severus and James. Severus' eyes were as wide as saucers, and, Sirius noted, his face wasn't pale anymore, but gaining color and turning red from James' grip.
"Cckkkk...no..." Severus managed to say, but he knew it was all in vain. Sirius had the book and wasn't being suffocated by James.
Sirius merely smiled, turned to the window, and carefully stuck the book out into the breeze. Then he tossed it, and it went flapping into some bushes, pages flying out of it as it fell.
Desperately, Severus made a final lunge for the book that he'd worked hard on all summer. James lurched forwards with him, and Severus' legs gave under him, and he went down, as pain and light exploded behind his eyes. James somehow kept his balance and was able to keep his arm hooked around Severus' neck, and was now suspending Severus by his throat so that his knees were a few inches from the ground.
The world was growing fuzzy and black around the edges for Severus, and he yanked and scrabbled at James' arm for some air, gulping sondlessly. James looked down, and seeing Severus panicking, let go.
Only Remus' keen eyes noticed the young boy riding a horse through the sparse woods, and watched silently as the boy turned in his saddle and stared at the book tearing apart in the air before it hit the ground. Shrugging it off, he turned to watch James, Severus and Sirius, and no one saw the boy start towards the place where the book had fallen.
Yet again, Severus crashed to the floor, gasping and choking as he drew in breath after breath of sweet fresh air.
Sirius stood in front of Severus, waiting patiently for him to recover. James once again blocked the door, sensing that Severus would probably attempt to get away from them.
Slowly, Severus pushed himself up onto his knees and arms and then sat back on his legs. He glared up at Sirius, intensely pissed that he'd thrown his book out of the window. Three months of hard work...and all for nothing.
Remus watched James with an unblinking gaze, and then turned to scrutinize Severus, who was now massaging his throat and grimacing. "Be careful, James. And you too, Sirius." With that, Remus returned to staring out the window at the scenery flashing by.
Without warning, Severus jumped up and made for the door, but James was ready. He grabbed Severus, and twisted his arm around behind his back. Severus winced, turned to pull away, and was released unexpectedly as James stepped out of the way and Sirius' fist connected with his face.
He flew backwards, towards James and the door, and tripped over James' outstretched foot. Just as he was about to connect painfully with the door, someone slid it open, and he crashed instead into someone's trunk right outside the door.
Reply...please? It makes me happy! And this is my first eva fanfic, and my fingers have a mind of their own, so...help me smack some sense into them!! Thanks!