Remus watched the scene in a detached state of mind. There wasn't anything special about this specific instance; it was nothing he hadn't seen before. In fact, it happened quite often, with increasing frequency as their time at Hogwarts continued on. But he wasn't feeling the same about it today. James and Sirius were getting quite the satisfaction out of it as usual, with Pete watching in reverently as he normally did, but Remus just couldn't be bothered to participate today.
He knew exactly why he was out of it today, but there was no way he'd admit it. After all, in James' and Sirius' opinion, the git deserved it, whatever it might be. But still, Remus could not shake the guilt that was pressing on his mind. This was different. Normally there was a whispered insult that would set everything in motion. Maybe a gauntlet thrown down, either consciously or not Remus could never keep track of. No, today he had just so happened to be on the same earth as them, so he was targeted out of convenience.
Severus hung upside down, his loose fitting robes gathered around his head, obscuring his face from view. The spell would run out soon and he would flop directly on his defenseless head. That's how it always went, but James and Sirius were in a strange mood today, so it cold always turn differently.
It didn't. Severus plummeted unceremoniously to the floor, and Remus winced despite himself. He hurriedly tried to right his clothing from where he sat in a heap and for a moment his eyes met Remus'. they were filled with emotion but fighting not to show it. Unwanted tears welled in the corners, the purple bags underneath stood out harshly against his pallid complexion and paired with his knotted eyebrows to convey pure weariness. Confusion was evident as well, and Remus knew he wasn't the only one who had caught on that this attack was unprovoked, but it was the last emotion, boring into Remus' skull that truly shook him to the core: Accusation.
for the second he was able to glance at Remus, Severus took the chance to remind him that he could have stopped this; that it wasn't entirely unprovoked. That Remus was the root cause of this attack as well as all the others. all the guilt he was repressing broke free despite his best efforts, and he was unable to dam the tide of memories that overtook him.
It was their first year, last year as it happens, and Remus was in the hospital wing recovering from his transformation the night before which had only been his third moon at Hogwarts. The other two had been rather uneventful and easy to pass off as nothing but a stomachache, especially since the four Gryffindor boys had yet to become nearly as close as they would grow to be in a matter of years. they had yet to know the quiet, bookish boy that sometimes helped them with homework and happened to sleep in the same room. So, his absence was not automatically apparent to them and even then not concerning as long as he took his leave quietly, which he happened to be good at.
This time, however, though he had gotten to the shack without issue, it was what happened that night that he was having trouble dealing with. the other two transformations hadn't left him with any visible marks that his school uniform couldn't cover easily. The third had left him with a large, purple bruise on his left eye. To all the world, it appeared as though Remus Lupin had come out worse in a fight. If it had been a gash, Madame Pomfrey could have healed it in a minute, but being as it was a bruise, there was very little to be done. Even very skilled healers could do little to nothing about benign bruises. So Remus was left with the unfortunate situation of explaining his absence and a black and blue shiner. This was complicated considerably when none other than James and Sirius walked in at that very moment, lugging a very green Peter between them. It appeared as though he had once again eaten too much at breakfast and was having certain issues. Both noticed Remus at the same time, and as he had no way to disguise his black eye, received looks mottled with concern, questions, and fury all at once. Once he had been deposited on a bed, they began their barrage of questions for Remus.
As he had had zero time to prepare an excuse, he panicked, and luckily the first thing to roll off of his tongue was not the truth. It was, however, a quite unfortunate lie. "It was that Snivellus character! i was walking to the infirmary with a stomachache when he jumped me! before i could get a single punch in, he ran off!"
Now, before this, the four's only encounter with Severus Snape had been on the train their first day and had left him as little more than a strange kid, maybe a bit misguided but nothing more than that. He was good friends with Lily Evans, so therefore he couldn't be that horrible, so most everybody left him well enough alone. However, Remus had just unconsciously changed that entire dynamic in less than ten seconds. James and Sirius immediately agreed that the "slimy git" needed to be taught a lesson. Remus had figured it's be a single prank and nothing more, so he didn't worry about it all that much and instead basked in the notion that his secret was safe for at least a little while longer.
But one prank had turned into two and it had only spit-balled form there. Now Severus was their one and only target for cons and pranking. It had taken Severus a while to figure out what was going on, much less why Sirius would always stun or disarm him with a cry of "That'll teach you to mess with our Remus!" but he did eventually figure out and, while he never confronted him, Remus knew he hated him more than the other three Marauders combined.
Just as fast as the memories came, they fled, and seconds later, Severus' eyes darted away as well, his face set back into one of stoic defiance. Remus had just dashed all his hopes of salvation away by staying silent. He could've called all of this off in a moment but instead he stood frozen and "petrificus totalus" and "tantalegra" were cast simultaneously, resulting in knocking him backwards violently instead of either spell taking hold. Severus was past fighting back for the day and took it silently. His eyes drifted back to Remus' and this time held the gaze, pleading him to speak up and daring him to stay silent at the same time. Remus returned his stare, trying to work as much compassion into his eyes as possible. Severus whimpered as Sirius grabbed him by the collar and yanked him into a standing position, but kept his eyes fixed on Remus. Sirius swiftly brought his fist back, and connected it soundly with Severus' eye socket. He smiled triumphantly as Severus cried out in pain and declared coolly, "That's for Remus, you git." before dropping him in a crumpled heap like before. He, James and Peter turned around and began stalking away.
Severus sat up, and the accusation was back in his eyes. Remus shook his head and mouthed a pointless apology before turning tail and running to catch up with his friends. With shame burning on his face, he resolved, just as he did every time, to tell his friends the truth-to set things right and put a stop to the torment. but deep down, he knew he lacked the famed Gryffindor courage and that he would never tell them. he couldn't call off the pranks.
He'd be lucky if he was even brave enough to look Severus in he eye next time.