Disclaimer: I didn't steal this story, only borrowed it to unleash my twisted little fantasies on. Don't sue me I make nothing off this. Who would be foolish enough to actually pay me to read this rubbish anyway?
A/N: Hiya people,
As you can see, I've begun a new fanfic (again) and I hope you'll like it. Well duh… what a lousy welcome this is turning out to be. Let's just hope you'll find the story more interesting than my useless babbling. Anyway I'm just going to start the story and let you judge it on your own. Any offers on beta-readings will be appreciated and in all probability accepted with immense gratitude on my side. :D for now, enjoy the story. Read and Review, I love constructive criticism. ;P
A leap in the dark
Chapter one
A werewolf's tantrum
Annoying Harry, Hermione fumed quietly. And stupid Half-blood Prince, he's no good, I'm certain of it.
"What's wrong Hermione?" Parvati whispered across the cauldron. She saw her cutting the ginger roots a little too fiercely and that was never a good sign. She had noticed potion making always made Hermione more relaxed, but now it seemed with every cut she only became tenser.
"Nothing" Hermione whispered in reply. It was a flat out lie and they both knew it. The class had been assigned a difficult potions task and they were asked to form pairs. Naturally Harry and Ron had paired up and so Hermione was forced to take up on Parvati as her partner. She didn't really mind that, she'd do everything herself anyway, but she did hate the part where Harry once again opened his potions book and did everything the Half-Blood Prince had scribbled down. Ron was only more than glad to leave his own book in his bag as well.
"Ah, damn." she cursed and she quickly put her finger in her mouth. A metallic taste hit her tongue and she grimaced.
"Are you alright?" Parvati asked slightly worried.
"Yeah i's noh'ting." she said still with her finger in her mouth. She transfigured one of the ginger root pieces into a little bandage and wrapped it around her finger.
"Just a tiny cut, it bleeds like hell though." She threw away the root pieces which had been contaminated with her blood and continued cutting, more cautious this time.
"Severus!" a grey haired man in black robes called, stumbling down a dark stair. The only light was that of a smothering torch he had already dropped many feet behind him. Sweat drops ran down his grimacing face and a twisted look settled in his eyes. The man stopped for a moment, panting heavily. He ran his hand over his face, blinked and continued down the cold stone stair. He never touched the last few steps as he collapsed and winced with pain. Sharp teeth shone in the soft light of the forgotten torch. Only a few more feet.
The man crawled towards the wall and he gripped a stone that stuck out. He pulled himself up and started walking down the slowly darkening hallway again.
After only a short while he stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. A silver sign said 'S. Snape' in beautiful engraved letters with slithering snake encircling the name.
"Severus please wake up! I have a problem!" the man called, panting only heavier than before. Somehow it seemed his grey hair had spread itself along his jaw like the man had suddenly grown a small beard.
"Severus I really need to talk to you!" he shouted with a breaking voice. Raw untamed anger now filled his eyes.
At last did the door open, revealing a grumpy raven haired man. Severus had obviously only awoken moments ago. His straight hair was ruffled and he wore long black sleeping trousers. A black robe hang loosely over his shoulders and exposed his athletic pale chest, covered with scars.
"What is it Lupin?" he snarled, taming his wild hair with his right hand. When his dark eyes met those of his visitor's he knew exactly what was wrong.
"For Merlin's sake Lupin, why didn't you take the medicine!" he pulled the man inside his quarters and immediately began searching through a cabinet at the opposite side of the room.
The room was made of the same dark stones as the rest of the hallway outside, but somehow the room seemed cosy instead of cold and gloomy. A single wall separated the front door from the living room and when standing in the doorway it intervened with the sight of the room. Precisely what it had been conjured for.
Remus staggered across the room and let himself fall down unto the couch. It was made of deep chocolate brown leather and two matching armchairs stood across from it. A small chestnut table stood in between the couch and the chairs. On top lay a stack of papers, all graded and piled in alphabetic order. Remus needn't take a look to know that. He looked through the rest of the room and was a little surprised for he had never been in there. As he had figured it was neatly organised. At the back of the room was a huge desk filled with all sorts of papers and other documents. In front of him, behind the chairs, a whole wall had been dedicated to bookshelves, stuffed of course with thick books on every possible subject one could think of. The stone floor was covered by a wine red rug and on further examination one could almost call it kind of fluffy. Two closed doors were at the other side of the room, close to the desk and a great fireplace was at his left.
A grunt caught Remus attention "damn." He turned his head to see Severus close the cabinet and grab his wand from a small table near the front door.
"It seems I have yet to brew a reserve Wolfsbane potion so we're just going to have to bring you down to the shrieking shack." He said scowling and went into one of the doors.
Remus heard some noise but paid no attention to it, the promise of a trip to the shrieking shack hang heavily in the air. He couldn't turn, not after all this time. He had held out this far, surely Severus could be able to make some other potion to stop his transformation, if only mentally. He knew in the saner part of his brain it was no use, that he would turn tonight, break down the old house and get found by Severus the next morning, stark naked and frozen to the bone. That he wouldn't hurt anyone and all would be well tomorrow. Only right now the saner part of his brain was already overruled by that of his cursed and panic started to rise in his veins. A deep sense of self-preservation urged itself known and he began pacing the room, half trying to gain control half giving into his animal instincts.
Though it had felt like an eternity, Severus finally came out of the other room wearing black boots and a white shirt underneath his robe. He grabbed Remus and shoved him out into the hallway.
"let's go." He commanded and both men ran through the hallway and up the stairs. The stairs ended in a corridor in the dungeons of the Hogwarts castle. Luckily Lupin had only come to him late in the evening and so there was no danger of running into any students, perhaps with the exception of Potter and his fanclub.
Severus and Remus ran through the corridors and out the castle unto the field towards the whomping willow. Had they not been in such a hurry Severus would've surely seen the nervous young woman hide quickly in the shadows of the corridor upon their approach. He would've also noticed her surprised look when she saw who passed and where they were heading. And neither could he have missed her sneaking after them towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest, but they had been in a hurry and he had missed her.
Remus stopped in an instant as he felt his heartbeat quicken dangerously. He felt his insides moving, his muscular tissue multiplying and his bones breaking and growing back together. His own cells were hybridising with that of his curse. He fell down and groaned loud, holding his ribs.
"Were almost there, get a grip!" Severus hissed and pulled the man up and practically dragged him towards the aggressive tree.
It was already too late though and Remus couldn't delay his transformation any longer, couldn't detain the anger that was corrupting his every sense. There in Severus very arms the man burst out of his clothes into his new wolfish body. He howled and a murderous crossed his face.
"This isn't who you are Remus, now snap out of it!" Severus shouted to no avail, his own panic level rising to unseen heights. The werewolf growled in his face and when Severus tried to escape he was grasped by his left arm and lifted into the air. The furious monster bit him in his right shoulder and shook him around a little. Blood was everywhere and Severus was on the verge of consciousness. His rescue came in a somewhat ironic way; a howl far away from another werewolf. The animal let go of his pray and howled back to his kind. There was a replying howl and Remus took off into the forbidden forest.
Severus lay there, blood issuing out of his wounds at an alarming rate. He couldn't stand, barely even breath, not to mention walking all the way back inside the castle.
So this was how he was going to die. He had lived through all those meetings and revels with the Dark Lord, had even been one of a few who dared and accomplished lying to him. And now he was going to die here, alone in the cold, not even for the good of the Cause, but just because some idiot forgot to take his medicine. Maybe it was only for the best, his life was worthless anyhow.
In the corner of his eye he saw something dark flick by.
Here comes the next to have a go at me. He closed his eyes weary, awaiting more pain and the relief death would bring. He heard a crack of something approaching, but when nothing came he opened his eyes and looked straight into the face of a young woman. He blinked, sharpening his sight and finally recognised her. Just when you think things can't get any worse.
"What are you doing out here miss Granger?" he sneered in a hoarse voice. At that moment he would've gladly exchanged her for a blood lusting werewolf. He tried to stand but failed miserably in every possible way.
"Professor you're in no condition to stand now." she whispered. Hermione was afraid what Snape would do to her, because with the bite from Remus Snape had been contaminated with the lycanthrope curse. She hadn't read enough about the subject to know whether he would transform tonight as well or stay human until the next full moon, but she didn't want anger him any further.
She had stood in the shadows of a nearby tree, watching in horror as her professor was thrown about by her cursed friend. She couldn't move, had even forgotten to breath and was now slightly panting.
She reached out a trembling hand to examine the wound on Severus shoulder but he groaned a 'no'.
"Touch it and you die." He growled dangerously low and made another attempt at getting up. This time he did only little better and Hermione quickly had to intervene before he hurt himself only more. She supported his good shoulder and most of his weight. It surprised her how little he actually weighted and how thin he felt underneath all those layers of clothing.
Slowly they made their way towards the castle, leaving a trail of blood behind. As they reached the castle Hermione pushed the door open with her foot and they staggered inside. Halfway up the stairs Snape lost consciousness and Hermione had too use quite some magic to get him up the many staircases without further injury. I still don't understand why they had to move the bloody ward.
Up on the third floor in the hospital wing madam Pomfrey lay in her own bedroom adjacent to the infirmary. She woke from noises from the other room. When she came outside she was surprised to find Hermione put an unconscious dark clad man on top of one of the beds. As she came up to the pair she recognised the man and her breath caught at the sight of his wounds.
"Oh my" she yelped, but quickly got to work. Hermione was ordered to get a few potions from the cabinet as madam Pomfrey undid Severus of his robe and shirt. Soon, the bushy haired student returned to Pomfrey carrying several potions.
"What happened?" madam Pomfrey asked as she wetted a towel with one of the potions and dabbed Severus shoulder.
"I…I" Hermione stammered watching the full size of her professors wound with most of the blood dabbed up. The rest of his pale, skinny chest was still covered in blood and a few cuts and bruises graced his belly and arms. His left wrist where Remus had lifted him had deep cuts as well. Hermione noticed the amount of scar tissue that was visible across his entire torso. The tough life of a Death Eater no doubt. She scowled, but despite herself she felt sympathy bubbling up for her nasty teacher.
"Hermione?" madam Pomfrey asked. She was still waiting for an answer Hermione remembered. She was out after curfew, searching the library for anything on the Half-Blood Prince, but of course she couldn't tell her that.
"I didn't feel very good, so I was actually on my way here when I saw professor Snape and professor Lupin running through the corridors. I followed them a bit and saw them running towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Suddenly professor Lupin stood still and transformed, he attacked professor Snape but left him alone when he heard another werewolf calling." She explained reliving the horrifying scene. The elder witch cringed at this information, but quickly busied herself with her patient. Searching with a complex spell whether he had suffered internal injuries.
"Have you been hurt anywhere?" she asked very seriously.
"No, I only helped professor Snape up here." She felt guilty for not trying to help her professor when he was tossed around like a rag doll, instead of standing at a save distance watching. It was the only thing she seemed capable of at the moment.
"Good, will you please get me the Headmaster, the password is 'sweet liquorice', whatever that may be. I'll check you when you get back." She hurried off into another room getting more potions and other queer equipment for fixing Snape.
Hermione ran out of the room, through many of the corridors and up the stairs until she was standing in front of the stone gargoyle on the seventh floor.
"Sweet liquorice" she called and the Gargoyle leaped aside. The wall behind it split in two, revealing a spiral staircase. She stepped on one of the steps as it moved her up on it's own, like a muggle escalator.
Hermione rapped on the oak door and she heard a muffled 'enter'. She hesitantly stepped inside and saw Dumbledore sitting in his usual seat behind his desk, only now wearing a long purple dressing gown and yellow slippers. His beard was a mess and his half-moon spectacles were leaning far too much to the right.
"Miss granger what a surprise." He smiled gently, straightening his glasses. "You've had a busy night I see." He mentioned to Snape's drying blood on her robes.
"Sir, professor Snape's been wounded!" she snapped. How could he be so calm when a student drenched in blood enters his office?
"I know, Remus turned." He stated, his expression turning serious now, but soon a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, "Now miss Granger, don't look so surprised. Why, do you suppose would I be up in my office at this hour of the day dressed like this." He stood, eyes twinkling. He wrapped the robe a little tighter around his old body and walked towards the door. Hermione still stood there, mouth open gaping at the omniscient wizard.
"Severus is a tough one and Poppy the best Healer I know. Let's see if he's up and about again." He guided her through the highly polished oak door and down the spiral staircase. Together they hurriedly walked down to the infirmary.
A/N: poor Severus… I feel bad hurting him like that, but it's like Albus said, he's a tough one, i'm sure he'll survive, right? Or will he…
But anyway, how was chap one? Click the review button and tell me!