Dear Rus,
I really hate your alter ego at the moment. Do you realize that you are a genius for jinxing people? Do you recall that letter about Lily and my falling out? Yes well, that was your fault. I hate you, Sirius Black.
Severus
Professor Snape hurried up to the werewolf's chambers with the Wolfsbane Potion. He knocked, and when there was no answer, he came in, only to find that the room's occupant had left in a hurry. He turned around to find the idiot, but a flash of movement caught his eye. Snape went over to the desk to find a piece of familiar parchment that currently had two names racing across it. Damn, Snape thought. I was hoping that I was wrong. He promptly walked out of the chambers, and forgoing his usual elegant stride, flat-out ran through the castle. He passed Minerva on the way, and to her query only answered, "Have Poppy ready some beds, I have a feeling we'll need them!"
Snape hurried to the Whomping Willow. Looking around for a stick, he instead found a silvery cloak lying on the ground. He'd seen that cloak too many times before to ignore it. He picked it up, and the places where his hands were turned invisible. Turning back to the task at hand, Snape found a long stick and prodded the knot on the tree to make it freeze. He put on the cloak just before entering the passage. It was much smaller than he remembered, and he had to crawl through, which irritated him to no end. He finally got to the other side, and at the sound of voices, checked his pace, slowly creeping toward them.
"NO!" Snape heard the Granger girl scream. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too—he's a werewolf!"
There was a silence, and Severus rolled his eyes. Then Lupin said, "Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione. Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead…but I won't deny that I am a werewolf."
There was a whimper of pain and Snape almost burst in when he heard Weasley say, "Get away from me, werewolf!" Even now he could imagine the pain on the wolf's face, almost identical to the expression he had worn years ago, when Snape had whispered the same thing to him in a hallway between classes…
"How long have you known?"
"Ages," Granger said. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay…" Though he would never admit this, he felt satisfaction at knowing that he had at least a few smart pupils, and that she was one of them.
"He'll be delighted," Lupin said coolly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant…Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"
"Both," Granger said quietly, and Snape was impressed.
Lupin gave a forced laugh and said, "You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione."
"I'm not," she whispered. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"
But we already know, Snape thought.
"But they already know," Lupin said. "At least, the staff do."
"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf? Is he mad?"
"Some of the staff thought so," Lupin said, and Snape knew exactly who he was talking about. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy-"
"AND HE WAS WRONG!" Potter yelled, and Severus decided that it was time to step in.
He quickly Stupefied Black and was about to do the same to Lupin when a rat jumped out of Weasley's pocket, and Granger's cat went after it. They went right at him, Lupin flicked his wand, Snape dodged, and the rat turned into a dead man…
"Pettigrew," he said of the whimpering man in front of him. Not to be deterred, he also Stupefied the rat. "Lupin," Snape said, turning his gaze on the graying professor, who opened his mouth to speak. "You forgot this." He tossed the corked potion vial at Lupin, who opened it and drank it in one gulp.
"Granger, Potter." The two looked up at him fearfully, and he thrust the cloak at them. "Madam Pomfrey's, now. Don't get caught, and don't take side trips. Understand?" They nodded and took off.
"Severus…" Lupin said, but Snape cut him off.
"I will find out the story tomorrow, and your part in it. Nothing will happen to anyone until then, I swear." Lupin nodded. Snape turned his attention to Weasley, who appeared to have gone into shock. He magically bound the boy's leg, and conjured three floating stretchers for the three remaining people he had to take care of. "Stay," he said to Lupin, and went back down the hole.
Madam Pomfrey was nearly in hysterics when he arrived, but had enough sense not to ask him any questions. He stood guard over Black and Pettigrew, mostly pacing and staying out of Pomfrey's way. Dumbledore came and was admitted only reluctantly. Then the Minister showed up with a Dementor in tow.
"Yes, yes, I see you've caught the culprit, that'll be an Order of Merlin, of course, now let's get this over with." Fudge said.
"I'm not positive," Snape said sneeringly. "But I'm sure that there is no possibility of Dementors gaining access to the Hospital Wing, Minister."
"Damn straight they aren't!" Poppy shrieked.
"This is a special case, ma'am. I'm swear that the Dementors will not hurt anyone-"
"Won't hurt anyone?" Poppy was about to say more, but Severus cut in smoothly.
"Rules are rules, Minister, and it's your job to make sure they're followed. In fact, perhaps it might be time for you to look into enforcing the Animangus laws, because somehow there's been a man who's seemingly been an illegal rat for twelve years…" Severus trailed off as he let that sink in.
"Twelve years…but, but who could that be?"
"Well, we couldn't be sure yet…I'd advise you to return the Dementor to Azkaban, and come back in the morning with some of your strongest Veritaserum. I think we have a new lead in the Potters' murder case."
"Potters' murder case? Black did it, everyone knows that! What gibberish are you spouting? Madam Pomfrey, I think he needs to be looked at!" Fudge was turning red.
"I'd like to look at several people's minds to prove their madness, but Professor Snape is not one of them," Poppy said sharply. "Why don't you come back in the morning, without the Dementor. Visiting hours are over." She slammed the door in his face.
"What has happened?" Dumbledore asked, looking at their five patients.
"I'm sure Potter will be eager to tell us in the morning," Snape said. He was suddenly exhausted, though he tried not to show it. "Are you going to wait with us?"
"I think not. The Ministry is almost certainly cluttering up my fireplace already." Dumbledore walked out.
"You should get some sleep too, Severus," Poppy ordered.
Severus looked at the two scraggly men, one of which was certainly a murderer. "I think not, Poppy. You'll need backup if someone has a violent fit."
"I have run this Hospital Wing for sixteen years, Severus. I can handle a violent fit."
"All the same, I'd rather stay up." Severus summoned a chair and sat down to await whatever came in the morning.
Ah, so this story is a sequel to Letters Anonymous. I had a vote between this and more letters, and this won. Hope you enjoy, and please review!
Yes, I know I have a bunch of stories needing to be updated. School's almost out, so that'll help. Real life is a pain.