disclaimer! hi. my name isn't jk rowling. although i often wish that it was, so that i could have her fame and fortune, i only see that coming true in my dreams. sigh, for now i'll just stick with fanfiction, i suppose.

author's note! i'm back with another story. i wasn't going to post this just yet. i was going to wait until i finished writing the whole story and then post in a certain time frame, but i couldn't help myself. i wanted to get it out here. i have the day off school tomorrow and i have a project to do, so i'll probably procrastinate from the project and wite the next chapter tomorrow. go me. anyway, it'll be a short story, just about four or five chapters. hopefully they'll be all completed within reasonable time. and i promise i haven't given up on any of my other stories. they'll come as soon as my muse comes back for them. anyway, bon apetite.

His vision, at this point, was so blurred that he could hardly see anything. And yet, he stood from the stool at the bar, and would have fallen off had someone not caught his arm and steadied him. He laughed loudly at his moment of clumsiness, and those around him shared in his laughter. No one was quite as drunk as he was, and therefore, he was the source of entertainment at the time. He comes here often, the bartender knows him well, despite the fact that he is not yet old enough to be legally drinking. Had word gotten out that he was here, back to his school, he'd be in so much heat he'd burn alive. Often he came here with his best friend, but tonight he'd come alone.

At this point, he couldn't recognize himself if he looked in the mirror, let alone anyone else. He was too drunk, too blinded from the alcohol. And yet, as it was three am and the bartender was starting to close down, sixteen year old Sirius Black headed for the exit, stumbling and running into chairs, people, and tables the whole way out. He'd muttered out a slurred 'sorry' as he walked headfirst into the door before backing up, taking half a step to the left, and doing it again. Letting out a strangled 'oomph,' someone reached out and opened the door for him. Sirius stumbled out into the cold, tripping over the step he didn't know was there and fell face first into the road.

He moaned but climbed to his feet in laughter yet again and continued on his way. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his overcoat and staggered off in the wrong direction. He walked that way for a few minutes before collapsing in a heap on the ground for a second time, this time somewhat on purpose, however. He groaned and wrapped his arms around his knees as he drew them to his chest. He sat there for what felt like hours, but was probably just a few minutes.

The sound of footsteps approaching did not reach his ears. They were drowned out by the wind blowing, him mumbling to himself, and the alcohol. He didn't hear someone calling out his name, either, the first time. But a figure took a step closer and Sirius could hear the person speak this time. "Black?" the voice repeated. Sirius looked up, but could not make out the face of the person above him. He squinted his eyes but grinned goofily at the same time. "Mm?" he muttered out in response, swaying slightly in his intoxicated manner.

"What on earth are you doing out here?" The blurred figure asked, somewhat scornfully. Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but could not. Instead, he began to laugh, unintentionally. He hadn't found anything funny, but still he found himself laughing hysterically, tilting on an angle and falling onto his side, still laughing.

Severus Snape spent enough time in this part of Hogsmeade to know that one should not be out walking alone at night. There were plenty of creepy men waiting for someone to shag and old women out of their minds. But Severus Snape knew well how to keep care of himself. He wore a dark black cloak, a hood pulled over his head, so that the men could not see how young he was. At sixteen years of age, a scrawny boy such as him would be easily overtaken. There were plenty who were not quite as lucky. Drunken school boys sometimes wandered out into the darker part of the town from the Hog's Head and ended up in the wrong hands.

But Severus Snape had not often spent time there so late. It was quickly nearing three in the morning and although he knew how to easily sneak back into Hogwarts, past Filch and Peeves the poltergeist, he was more concerned about the area than the school. Hidden in alleys and behind corners were people so cruel and dark Severus did not quite know how he would be able to escape from their grasps. Luckily for him, tonight none of them seemed too interested in anyone or anything but their alcohol. Slinking his way into the darkened streets if Hogsmeade, Severus noted that the shopping center was basically abandoned. It didn't surprise him, concerning the hour, but it was eerie being out so late alone in the dark.

As he walked, he began to become paranoid, as he often did. Years of being tormented by his father and then coming to Hogwarts and being tormented by the majority of his school, all thanks to the wretched Marauders. James Potter and Sirius Black and their stupid followers were those who began this whole world of torture for the Slytherin boy. But Severus had one thing that James Potter would never get, and that he wanted more than anything. Or else he used to have her. Lily Evans, Severus' best friend of many years and the affection of Potter, was a red haired wonder, as far as both boys were concerned. And up until last year, Severus had had her almost right where he wanted her. And he'd lost her just by saying the word 'mudblood'. Out of any other person's mouth she wouldn't have minded. She would have rolled her defiant eyes and blew them off with a wave of her hand. But it had been because it was Severus, her best friend, that had said it that it bothered her so much. Now she refused to look at him anymore. And since then, Severus Snape had been alone. And that made it that much worse when he was tormented and teased by Potter and Black.

Speak of the devil and he shall come.

Squinting his eyes against the dark and pulling down his hood of his cape, Severus looked closely at the heap a few feet away from him. "Black?" he called out as he recognized the mumbling boy. In disbelief that it was actually the git himself, Severus walked a few steps closer and his guess was correct. "Black?" He asked again. This time, the heap recognized him and looked up, squinting his eyes and grinning.

Severus got a mumbled response as his enemy began to sway. "What on earth are you doing out here?" he asked the clearly intoxicated boy. He rolled his eyes at Sirius. Leave it to Black to be out at three am drunk off of his arse and curled up in the cold and deserted streets. He always was a waste of breath, if you asked Severus. He didn't get a response at all this time other than the other boy falling over and beginning to laugh uncontrollably. Severus rolled his eyes again and bent down. "Black," he said forcefully as he slapped him sharply across the face in order to regain control of him. "Get a fucking hold of yourself." His efforts, as he had begun to shake the drunken boy, had no success. Groaning to himself, he thought about leaving the git behind. Maybe he'd get caught by the authorities or something. Maybe he'd finally get expelled.

But Severus knew that that there was a better way to find enjoyment from this incident.

Grinning to himself he took a tight grip on Sirius' arm and pulled the still-laughing boy to his feet, with much difficulty. "Come on, you big loaf," he muttered under his breath. Sirius leaned heavily against Severus' shoulder as he finally got fully to his feet. He was still laughing and still stumbling around, but neither were anywhere as bad as moments before. Severus wrapped an arm around the other boy to steady him and headed towards an alley close by. It took a while to walk the short distance, but once they got there, Severus leaned Sirius, who had finally stopped laughing, against a wall.

The chance to humiliate Black was staring Severus straight in the face. Finding the right way to do so, however, was a much bigger problem. There were plenty of things he could do, but finding the right way, that was tough. It would be difficult to match up to all the hundreds of things Sirius and his friends had done to him. He was a downright git. And most of the time it seemed he felt his sole purpose for living was making Severus feel and look like shit. He had no right to, of course. Sirius Black was without a doubt one of the most confident, popular, most sought-after boys in school. He had all the girls fawning all over him. He had all the boys wishing they could be him. The teachers all loved him, even though they wanted to hate him. Why did he have to make Severus' life such hell?

Sirius was the cool kid around school. He may not have been a big, tough Quidditch star that brought his team to victory every year, but he was probably more popular than Potter. What really pissed Severus off was that he hadn't done anything to deserve it. He goofed his way through everything. Sure, he was near the top of his year, but he never had to try to pass his classes. Everything came easily to him. And yeah, he was rich, but he took that for granted. Hell, rumor has it that he even went as far as to run away from home this summer. He didn't accomplish much at all. All he did was get into trouble, pull pranks, be an arse. And yet he was the popular kid around school. He was cool and confident in manner. He would smile and girls hearts would melt. His hair never had to be combed for it to look good.

Yet now, staring at his drunken state in the alley, he looked anything but cool and confident. He was grinning goofily still, but his eyes were far away, vacant and lost, as if he wasn't seeing anything. His hair was a sweaty, tangled mess and Severus wished Black's fan girls could see him now. He looked a total, absolute, one hundred percent mess. And he looked, for once, kind of fragile, defeated. For a brief second, just one, Severus felt an ounce of pity for him. He didn't know what had happened this night for Sirius, why he had chosen to go out and get drunk for hours alone. Usually his partner in crime would be right by his side.

Sirius began to mumble, his eyes sliding into the back of his head, and Severus snapped back into reality. This was the boy who made him feel so much pain in his life, he needed to get him back. But what could possibly be done to amount to all the times Black hurt him?

"I love you," Sirius muttered under his breath, that goofy smile back on his lips. "You're so pretty." He was clearly drunk speaking but it made Severus laugh out loud as Sirius lifted his hand clumsily and put it on Severus' face. He wasn't even looking at the sober boy, his eyes were completely vacant and unseeing. He obviously had no idea who he was talking to and was probably imagining himself with some hot blonde girl or something. Nevertheless, Severus couldn't help but feel a bit disgusted by the Gryffindor's hand on his face and he pushed it off roughly.

Sirius slumped and began to fall to the ground. Severus didn't have the compassion to catch him and let the other boy fall in a heap on the ground. "Oomph," he muttered and rolled his head back against the wall harshly. He groaned loudly and sniffed. "Fucking asshole," he slurred out with a drunken growl, so it sounded anything but menacing.

Severus, who had ignored this whole incident in his wonderings, turned his attention back to his enemy on the ground, who was muttering curse under his breaths. Severus rolled his eyes until Black began to become more and more violent. He was raising his voice and began slamming the back of his head into the wall behind him. "Don't – fucking – touch – me," he said, slamming his head backwards after every word. "Don't – fucking – touch – me," he repeated, doing the same thing, his voice getting louder and his thrusts against the wall getting harder with each word. Severus began to become alarmed and he stooped to Sirius' level, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him, in hopes to knock the boy back to his senses, to no avail.

"Hey – hey!" Severus said harshly. "Cut it out!" Groaning and rolling his eyes again, he pulled Sirius away from the wall so that he couldn't hit his head any longer, but the shouting did not cease.

"Get the fuck away from me! No! Don't touch me, you fucking pervert!" Sirius shouted, thrashing in Severus' arms. The latter of the two stopped his efforts to calm the boy down and stared at him, eyes screwed up in confusion. "No, no, no," Sirius started to trail off, becoming looser in Severus' arms as he finally began to seem to calm down. Or so Severus thought. Instead, he started sobbing.

Severus wasn't sure what to do. He didn't know how to deal with this side of Sirius Black. The tormenting one was the one he was used to, not the tormented one.

As the minutes went by, Sirius finally started to stop sobbing uncontrollably until he was in a state of sniffing. Severus sighed in relief and got to his feet, gently pushing the intoxicated boy out of his arms. He had gotten all the information he needed and had no further purpose for him. Pulling the hood of his cloak up, he brushed off his jeans and headed out of the alley, leaving Sirius curled up on the ground of the alley alone, and made his way back towards the castle.

Let Black deal with himself. His own damn fault for getting drunk alone.

Sixteen year old James Potter sighed in frustration as he stared at the clock. It was after four in the morning and the bed next to his was still empty, curtains drawn back and the sheets still made from this morning. His best friend Sirius Black was usually irresponsible, but this was just downright ridiculous. He better be lying in a ditch somewhere dead for making James worry like this. He could hear Peter snoring loudly across the room from him and Remus was sleeping as soundly as ever, shifting only every now and then for a more comfortable position. How they could sleep while Sirius was MIA, James would never know.

Throwing the covers off of him in frustration as the clock changed from six minutes past four to seven minutes past, the messy haired, bespectacled boy climbed out of bed and walked across the room to Remus Lupin's bed. As the most responsible of the four friends, it only made sense for it to be him who helped James find the son of a bitch. As he reached the other boy's bed, he drew the curtains back and shook his arm, none to gently. "Remus," he whispered loudly, not caring if woke Peter up. "Remus," he said louder, more urgent, when the first try didn't work, shaking his arm even harsher.

The sleeping boy rolled over and groaned as he woke up. "Go away, James."

"Sirius is missing."

Remus, all without opening his eyes, rolled over so that his face was stuffed in the pillow, obviously no where near as worried as the tall boy above him. "He'll be back," he mumbled into his pillow, so it sounded distorted. James groaned and shook his friend's arm hard.

"Get up you lazy arse. It's four in the morning. Something's up," he said urgently.

Remus, still not convinced moaned loudly and clumsily got out of bed. "Fine," he said in exaggeration as he reached for his school robe and his shoes sleepily. James barely gave him enough time to put them on before gripping his arm and more than half-dragging him out of the dormitory, grabbing his Invisibility Cloak along the way.

Before exiting the common room, James slung the cloak over the two of them so that they could make it out of the castle undetected. At sixteen, however, it was getting difficult for two to fit underneath the cloak. When they were younger, it was no problem, but as they grew older they also grew bigger. Both boys were nearing six feet and the cloak was not all that long. They were forced to crouch down, which resulted in some pretty bad leg and back pains. But they fought through it.

They had forgotten the Marauder's Map, a device they had just recently finished, although they were always adding new installments to it as they discovered new passageways, in the dormitory, but they knew their way around the school well enough, not to mention the corridors were so silent they could hear a pin drop from a mile away. They had no fear they would get caught. And so they slid through the castle with well-practiced ease, making it to the statue of the one-eyed witch without any complications. And once they were out of the hidden passageway and out of Honeydukes, they slid the cloak off so that they could walk much more comfortably.

Remus and James wandered the streets, checking alleys and behind corners carefully. It was getting really late now and both boys were now increasingly worried. No bars or pubs seemed to be open. Everything was closed and the streets of Hogsmeade were completely deserted. There wasn't a soul around. Remus, who was grouchy from being awoken at this dreadful hour (not to mention the full moon was rapidly approaching and he needed his rest), was grumbling incoherent words underneath his breath that James was sure were not very pleasant and he therefore was glad he could not make them out. Sirius was obviously going to get an earful when they found him. James himself was too worried at this point to be angry with his friend. But that would soon change as soon as he was found.

They'd been searching for their friend for nearly a half an hour before they finally caught a glimpse of something curled up in one of the alleys. It could have been anything, but naturally they checked it out.

Passed out cold, lying on his side, and so obviously wasted, was Sirius Black.

"Oh fucking Merlin," James heard Remus mutter before the fair-haired boy dropped to his knees at their friend's side, checking for a pulse. Upon finding one, he motioned to James to come help him and together they dragged the intoxicated boy to his feet, each taking an arm to support him. "I'll fucking kill him," Remus said in anger as he shook his head.

James nodded his agreement, but walked out of the alley saying, "Right, well let's just get him back first."

By the time they reached their common room again, after much difficulty with getting the cloak to cover them all, it was after five. Their alarms would be going off in about an hour and neither Remus nor James were looking forward to it. All they wanted to do was climb into their nice, warm beds and sleep. But first they had to take care of their drunken, stupid friend.

As James laid him in bed, Remus went off in search of a bucket. They always had one in the bathroom for incidents like this. Sirius was going to be supporting the worst hangover the next day and while he was usually quite talented at dealing with them, they always rather to be safe than sorry. A floor full of puke would not be something they wanted to wake up to.

In the bathroom, Remus also conjured up a glass and filled it with water. Sink water would have to do for Sirius. He should be thankful he wasn't getting toilet water, the state of anger Remus was in at the moment. Going back into the dorm room, Remus found James searching frantically but quietly through Sirius' bedside drawer for the supply of Advil they kept there. Sirius himself was passed out underneath the covers, on his side so as not to choke on his vomit if he so happened to produce some during the night. As James found the pills, laying two of them on the nightstand, Remus placed the glass of water next to them and set the bucket on the ground next to the bed.

That was all they could do at the moment. Sirius would be out cold for a while, judging on how much he seemed to have drunken that night, and all four boys (Peter included) were bound to have a torturous day when the sun rose.

For the time being, James and Remus were collapsing into bed and sleeping the next hour.

author's note! yeah, so, what did you think? should i continue or just give up here? you tell me. anyway, i should have the next one up either by tomorrow night or by tuesday, depending how productive i feel towards schoolwork tomorrow. xD review, foo.

peace.