Reasons chapter 7
Cause & Effect
James Potter didn't know what to expect for his second detention with the two Slytherin. He did remember his cauldron this time. Snape couldn't rip him for that. 'I hope Professor Slughorn doesn't let Snape get his tea leaves for him again.' Timidly, he looked in to see who was in the room. Neither of them were there. A new piece of chalk hovered by the black board with the score chart. 'Did Professor Dumbledore realize what happened to the first one?' The Gryffindor boy read something written underneath. [A point each for the destruction of the score chalk. It will be two the next time. A.D.
Potter didn't know why he had a point taken away when Snape was the one who had disintegrated it. "Where are they?" He wondered out loud.
On the potion table there were some ingredients and a note. 'Felt as if you'd be less nervous if given a chance to brew on your own. Will be here in a half an hour. Mr. Snape will review your work. If you are not here when we return you'll answer to Dumbledore.' There was a second card with the potion directions. In a way James was glad that Snape was not there, but if he was supposed to be tutoring him, shouldn't he be helping? When Potter looked at the ingredients, Severus' presence was made. 'Potter, make sure you use the RIGHT ingredients. Wouldn't want any accidents, would we?'
Looking over the ingredients, James noticed that there were more than called for, and some looked almost identical. This was a test to see if he could tell the difference. "Great." This was a subject Potter never really cared about. That was why he didn't do as well in it. It wasn't that he didn't have the aptitude he just didn't care. "I can do this," he told himself. I can look up the differences in my book." So that was what he did, examined each ingredient and the ones he couldn't tell apart, he looked for clues in his potion book. He found their differences and could tell them apart; once this was done the making of the potion was the easy part. "I can do this."
It had been arranged by Slughorn that he and Snape would not get tot the potions classroom until Potter had figured out the ingredients and was beginning to make his brew. It wouldn't be important to get there well before the finish. If Potter had messed up on one particular part, the result could be painful, for Potter. Part of Snape wished he could just wait, hoping Potter had made the mistake. The other part had promised Professor Slughorn he would get there in time. He didn't want to loose Slughorn's trust, so he'd make it on time. There would still be time to rub it in if, no when, Potter made his mistake. Severus was sure James would mess up.
In this limbo time Snape figured he'd do some studying for his remaining O.W.L.s. The library seemed the logical place to study. It wasn't always the safest. Severus figured with James down in the dungeons, it would be safe. He figured wrong.
With James in detention Sirius was on double duty in the hexing department.
As ever Snape studied with his exacting concentration. He sat hunched over the manuscript, seat on the edge of the chair, feet wrapped around the front legs of the chair, face inches away from it, quill scratching on a parchment without the eyes of the writer looking. Hearing them first, Severus became aware of Sirius and Remus. They were conspiring something, laughing and pointing in Snape's direction. One of the Slytherin's eyes kept on them. In the unlikely event that they would be as brazen to pull a prank in the library, he'd be prepared. The hand that was not writing reached inside his robes for his wand. What Snape didn't see or even remotely expect what was going on behind him. He had looked thinking something was back there, but the remaining marauder was crawling on the floor, unseen. Pettigrew's part in the scheme was one that even he couldn't mess up. The hardest thing for Peter to do was not giggle as he made his way closer to Severus' ankles. The foolish boy's wand was now pointed at its target. "Fastenio," he whispered, then retreated back from where he had come. When he popped up Black made his move in the play.
"Hey Snivlly - - "
Snape ignored the first taunt. Except for the dagger eyes and the scowling face.
"Try not to look as miserable as you actually are Snivelus," Black spat out. "Thought you were supposed to be torturing, oh pardon me, tutoring James again today?"
A snort came from Snape, but he didn't stop his note taking.
The other boy's commentary continued. "If you haven't learned it by now, what makes you think you're going to learn it the last few weeks of the term?"
Still no reaction from Severus.
"Someone call the muggle government, there's no oil crisis here. Dumbledore could set up a refinery just for Snape's hair."
These childish taunts were not going to get Severus to do what they wanted. Black's next statement would.
"What's that hand doing under the table? Which wand is that hand on?" Sirius' voice rose so that everyone could hear. "Does Mr. Tome know you're wanking in his library Snivs?"
"Black you are a disgusting pig." Snape stood pointing his wand at Black.
"Disgusting? I'm not the one playing with my wand."
"Shut you're foul mouth dog breath."
"Look whose calling my mouth foul." Sirius went in for the kill. "But you're right Sniv. I shouldn't be saying you're wanking yourself in public. You don't have anything under your robe to wank."
That was it. Forget the wand. Snape lunged towards Black only to find that his ankles had been tied to the chair by an unseen binding spell. As soon as he went to move away from it he tripped. In falling he practically impaled himself on the edge of the table before thudding to the floor with the chair landing on top of him. The marauders looked down at their perpetual adversary, he wasn't moving.
"We've done it this time," Lupin proclaimed. A wheezing sound was coming out of the prone Snape.
"What's going on over here," Mr. Tome demanded to know when he came to see what the tremendous thud was. "What's happened to Mr. Snape?"
Wormtail was the one to answer, "Seems to have tripped." It would have been more convincing if the boy hadn't been grinning.
"Pettigrew, Lupin, and Black," Tome took note. "If he's hurt - - "
Snape moaned at this point. He wasn't unconscious, just extremely jolted. Tome stopped his lecture and went to help Snape. "Can you sit up?"
Slowly Severus was able to get to a sitting position. He immediately gave a pained cry of "Ahhhh," and grabbed his right side.
"What time is it?" Snape wheezed out. "Potter."
"Potter? Has he something to do with this?"
"No, detention." Snape's breathing became rapider.
"I better get you over to the hospital wing."
"Detention - - Potter - - I've got to get to the dungeon."
"You're not going anywhere but to get help."
The marauders were looking at each other. Why was Snape so obsessed with Potter at a time like this?
"Help me carry him," Tome ordered. Lupin was the only one who moved to help.
As Mr. Tome and Remus helped Snape walk to the hospital wing Severus was trying to say something. "You think you've hurt me, but it's Potter whose going to pay."
"Is that some kind of threat?"
"I won't be there to fix his mistake because of you idiots." Through the pain Snape grinned. "Pity."
Lupin let go of his side of Snape. Tome shouted, "What are you doing?"
"I - - have to go." And he did. He ran down to the dungeon without finding his other friends. He entered just as Professor Slughorn was shouting, "Where is that boy!" James was sitting on the floor with some nasty looking quills sticking into his face. "Good thing you were wearing your glasses. I'm sorry. Severus was supposed to be here to see if you used the right quills. I trusted that he would be here."
Lupin broke in with an admission, "He - - he isn't here - - because of us. He's headed for the hospital wing."
"How convenient," Slughorn said. "That is where we need to get Mr. Potter."
Lupin took up on James where he had left off on Severus, helping the professor walk him to the hospital wing. He turned to his friend, "It's our fault, I'm sorry."
"You didn't know." James winced. "It doesn't hurt as much as it looks. I'm told the extracting of them is the part that's going to hurt." He couldn't help but ask, "What'd you guys do to Snape?"
Slughorn added, "Yes, what did you and your pals do to Mr. Snape?"
"We wanted to keep him from hurting James again."
"Good work," Slughorn snorted. "Mr.Potter was not hurt yesterday. The question was not what you intended, but what you did."
"It was just a prank, but, it went wrong."
"How many times have I heard that? How is Severus?"
Lupin cringed as he said it, "He might have a broken rib. A very nasty bruising if not."
"I swear one of you boys is not going to make it to your seventh year if you don't stop this nonsense."
On arriving in the hospital wing of the castle, they saw the matron examining the very purple side of Snape. Poking fingers determined, "Nothing broken Mr. Snape."
"Mr. Potter," the matron declared on seeing his pincushion-ed face. She rushed over to examine her new patient.
"So Potter," Severus gloated. "You can't tell the difference between porcupine and hedgehog quills."
tbc
