The pranks didn't die down in the days following the incident. If anything, they intensified. Most of the school didn't suspect a thing. This was, of course, the intention. However, at least one person wasn't fooled.
Lily Evans considered herself an expert on all things Potter and she saw the cover-up for what it was. In a few days, she "prefected" James into divulging the secret.
Morganna had never seen her friend so angry.
"I swear, I'm never going to speak to any of them again!" declared the fiery red-head. She sat down heavily on the lake shore and attacked the sandwiches she had brought from lunch, venting between bites. "I can't believe anyone could be so stupid! And poor Remus. He must feel awful."
"But what happened?" Morganna broke in. She was completely dumbfounded. Severus had hardly spoken two words to anyone since the night of the full moon, but that wasn't exactly abnormal behavior for him. "You must tell me now, or else why drag me all the way down here to talk alone?"
Lily gave the Slytherin a long look.
"If you breathe a word of this to anyone else, I'll find some excuse to report you," Lily warned earnestly before launching into a version of James' account. Even modified by Lily's good sense it came across as more heroic in nature than Morganna suspected was true. Nevertheless, she was aghast by the end.
"That's awful!"
"I know!" Lily responded. "Couldn't you just kill the lot of them? Except Remus?"
Morganna nodded distractedly. This certainly shed light on Severus' dark mood, even if he hadn't come quite so close to being disemboweled as the Gryffindor report made out. Being rescued by James Potter was more than enough of an explanation.
Lily eyed her sharply. "Don't try to defend Severus, Morganna. He's my friend, too, but if he'd just minded his own business this never would have happened. You know it."
"I know," she said somewhat irritably, not meeting Lily's eyes. Her own were clouded beneath close-knit silvery brows. "It was just a rotten trick, that's all. I need to talk to him," she resolved.
"Better you than me," Lily said vehemently. "I'd rather have his scalp, maybe with his stupid head attached. If Sirius or James do anything out of order in my presence, they'll wish Professor Dumbledore had expelled them."
Morganna believed her. Lily continued to malign each boy until it was time to get back to the school for afternoon classes. They walked in silence and Morganna began to think about how to approach Severus.
By nature, she wasn't very devious. She could emotionally blackmail a person 'till the cows came home, but it wasn't quite the same thing. She felt certain it was going to take a measure of real cunning to achieve her ends. She fretted over it for the rest of the day, convincing her professors that something was wrong with her but failing to come up with a plan of action. In her last period, she managed to assure herself with the knowledge that Severus trusted her more than anyone else in the world. He was her friend. He would talk to her.
That evening, Morganna went to Severus where he was working in the Slytherin common room. The gloomy aura of single-minded focus might have been placed about him by a spell, it was so strong. Morganna swallowed and forced a cheerful smile onto her face.
"Hey, Severus! What are you working on?" she asked, affecting interest by peering over his shoulder. The shoulder quivered as he scratched at the parchment in front of him with his quill.
"Not now, Morganna. I'm working," Severus replied distantly. He didn't look up.
Morganna frowned. Well, if he wasn't going to look at her, why bother smiling?
"Yes, now," she corrected him. "You've been acting strange all week. I want to know what's going on." And that was the plain truth.
Severus stopped writing and very deliberately laid the quill on the worktop.
"Morganna, I am very busy. There's nothing going on that a little peace won't fix. Please go away."
Not once did he look at her. Her lips pursed. She didn't like this treatment one little bit.
"Not until you talk to me," she declared. "Tell me what happened and—"
It was just as well that Severus cut her off when he did. Morganna couldn't think of anything she could have said to conclude the thought that would have been true.
He stood up precipitously so that Morganna had to back up to avoid being clipped on the chin by his shoulder. Even now he didn't turn around but continued to face directly away.
"I do not have time for this," he said in a tightly controlled growl. "I will ask you one last time: go away and leave me alone."
"What if I said no?"
His back stiffened with an indrawn breath.
"Good evening, Morganna."
It seemed that he gathered his things and vanished into the boys' dormitory in one movement. Morganna was left standing with her mouth in an open pout and her ears ringing with the finality of Severus' words. She could also hear whispering behind her in the common room and felt certain her fellow Slytherins were quietly laughing at her. It took a great deal of effort for her not to cry. It was bad enough that she had failed to console her friend, but people had seen it. That was nigh unbearable.
She soon followed Severus' example and retired to her dorm for the night. She didn't sleep right away. Her thoughts were frenzied again and she could only come to one conclusion: tomorrow she would have to ask for help.
She found it in the library. It was a bit disconcerting at first to see Jenni sitting head to head with her twin sister (Morganna had heard of Ame but not met her until today), but she sorted out which was who quickly enough. Sylvia Blackridge was with them also, but all three were wearing their school robes. Morganna wanted the brown-haired Ravenclaw.
"Jenni?"
All three girls looked up. Ame quickly got the idea that she wasn't wanted. She smiled apologetically and moved off. Sylvia looked between Jenni and Morganna, sighed, and followed suit. Morganna slid uneasily into the chair Ame had vacated.
"Yes?" Jenni prompted. She was curious and mildly confused.
Morganna got straight to the point. "I need some advice," she said, then braced for whatever the reaction would be.
Jenni sat up straighter, more curious and paying utmost attention. She waited for Morganna to elaborate, but not for long. Morganna was relieved to find Jenni a good listener and proceeded to make good on her fortune.
"It's Severus. He's in a mood. Obviously something is wrong, but you know how he is. I can't get him to talk to me."
Jenni thought about this before she responded. It was interesting, she thought, that Morganna should come to her for advice about Severus when Morganna had known him so much longer than she. What was going on? Jenni would wonder more about that later, though. Right now she would do her best to help Morganna work this out. Perhaps she would be rewarded with more information.
"Okay... what happened when you tried before? Did you try more than once?"
Morganna outlined her singular but persistent attempt, feeling rather silly. It wasn't something she planned on repeating to anyone, ever. This one time she supposed it was a necessary evil.
"Hmm."
Jenni grew thoughtful again, staring into the middle distance as she played the encounter through her mind and projected into the next one. Morganna gave her silence. This thinking was exactly what she wanted her friend to do. She could almost hear the wheels turning in Jenni's head. However, the next question surprised her.
"Do you think he might snap at you if you tried again?"
Morganna blinked. "Maybe. I don't want that, though. Do I?" she asked uncertainly.
"Maybe," Jenni replied with her particular mischievous half-smile. "This is just me talking, of course—you know him better than I do—but if it were me..."
Morganna listened intently in her turn as Jenni spoke. For a plan that she had just invented in that minute, it was very precise. It was also a bit crazy to Morganna's ears, but then, she had not thought of it. Of course an idea that wasn't hers would sound a little foreign. That, she hoped, meant it would work.
For Jenni's part, she had imagined such a tactic working on Severus' type for a long time. She wished she could be there to see it work, but she would just have to be happy knowing that Morganna would pull it off instead.
"The worst that can happen if it doesn't work is that you'll be back where you started, I think," Jenni said. "Maybe it would be harder to approach him again about... whatever this is about... but that would be the case anyway, yes?"
Morganna agreed outwardly, but there was a shadow in her eyes that said it was more likely that Severus would simply refuse to talk to her at all for a while if she failed to reach him again. She wasn't sure she could bear that, but she didn't have any other options but to try Jenni's plan. She would just have to hope and trust that Ravenclaw logic was everything it was reputed to be.
When she got up and left the library, Jenni remained seated and permitted herself to brood deeply over what had transpired. Unlike most of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff houses, she was not totally insensitive to the strange mood between Slytherin and Gryffindor of late—stranger than usual, anyway. Having friends in each helped there, she supposed, yet not enough to tell her what had happened to bring it on. Morganna was her first real clue, and even that usually cheerful and talkative person was being tight-lipped. Jenni was left to put the pieces together herself. She was determined to do it here and now, if possible.
First, who was involved? Not Morganna, of course, or she wouldn't need Jenni's help to pry information out of Severus. By the same token, Severus was obviously at the heart of it. James and Sirius were probably there, as well—no, Jenni amended, not James, though it was hard to say why. Perhaps because no one was gloating, and James was infamous for gloating. Sirius, on the other hand, sulked almost as hard as Severus when he thought no one was looking. As for the other Marauders, Pettigrew was almost certainly an accomplice (it seemed to be his lot in life), and Remus... Remus was clearly depressed, and that was probably the strangest piece of the puzzle. Remus Lupin always seemed so stoically happy, no matter what happened to him. What could make him that upset?
Well, that was the question, wasn't it? At least this much was clear: it had to be something huge, something so important that no one was speaking openly about it even though it had Severus smoldering, Sirius sulking, and Remus trying his damnedest not to exist at all.
It's odd, Jenni thought, her chin resting on her folded hands and her brows knitted in concentration. It was odd, and maybe oddness was all it was, but she didn't think so. Intuition (and she would admit a desire for intrigue, also), told her there was some deep, dark secret at work. It worried her. Remus worried her.
That decided it. Morganna could plumb Severus' depths, and Jenni thought her little scheme was likely to make him open up. She, Jennifer Robinson, would approach Remus at the next opportunity.
It came after dinner. In accord with their near-manic display of "normalcy," James and Sirius with Peter at their heels leapt up from the table and waved for Remus to join them. He smiled wanly, but apparently declined. They tried to drag him along anyway, of course, but he was insistent. The three bounded away while the one lingered, prodding his plate wearily. Several Gryffindor girls, Lily included, came and went with their worries for him while Jenni watched from the far end of the Ravenclaw table. Some of her friends and Ame actually came up to her in much the same manner in the meantime, though she had tried to be discreet with her attention. She didn't suppose that Ame was at all fooled by whatever she said to put her off, but Jenni was left to it just the same.
Finally the crowds dissipated and Remus got up. Jenni saw this out of the corner of her eye and made haste to follow. She caught up with him just outside the great doors.
"Remus," she called softly over his shoulder.
He turned, paused, and continued walking as he responded. "Jenni. Hi." As he had done with the others, he tried to smile. It failed to disguise the hollowness about his cheeks and eyes.
Jenni couldn't keep the concern out of her expression, but she went on as rehearsed:
"Hi. I was just thinking we haven't talked in a while. So... how're things?" A straight-forward question for a straight-forward person.
Remus sighed and looked askance at her, almost as if to say, 'I suppose I should have expected this from you, too.'
"Well, they could be worse, I guess, but that's always true. How about yourself?"
"Could be better," Jenni replied with a half-smile. Touché, Remus. "No one I know will be in detention once Sirius gets off, provided nothing happens in the meantime, and no one's failing classes that I'm aware of. I know a few people who might do with some cheering, though."
She stopped there, though a hundred ways to expand the thought presented themselves. It happened a lot: speech failed due to a plethora of ideas rather than a shortage.
Remus didn't respond for a moment. When he did, he spoke his scattered thoughts very deliberately and looked Jenni in the face. They were obliged to pause on the first floor landing.
"Jenni... I can see where this is heading. Listen: I like you. I appreciate what you'd try to do.
"Listen: I don't know what you think you know, but whatever I'm going through is private. It's something I have to work through on my own, understand?"
For a moment she didn't. She searched his face and was truly surprised to find that his tired, tawny eyes held the same message as his words. Frankly, the whole encounter was surprising and confusing in that she had expected it to take longer to come to the point at all.
"Ah—"she stammered. "I know we're not the best of friends, but—"
"It's not like that," he cut her off gently, hands raised. "I said I like you. I know you mean well. It's just..." he looked down as though what he had to say next pained him. "I wouldn't ask anyone to trust me, but please believe that it's best this way. Please don't ask. I've said the same thing to everyone else and I'll keep saying it. Will you respect that?"
Now he looked up again and Jenni saw that he was serious. Sad, but completely serious.
"Remus..." Again she stalled with too much output struggling for priority. She considered momentarily how she might break through Remus' shell, but his expression never changed as she looked at him. He was giving nothing away. Finally she sighed. "You know the difference between a good secret and a bad secret, right?" she challenged without force.
Something flickered in his eyes. He drew himself up, not in offense, but to distance himself.
"O, yes," he said hollowly. "Yes, I know all about that."
There was a long silence before he continued. Jenni would have pressed the matter if he hadn't spoken just when and how he did. She was rightly convinced that something was seriously wrong and having trouble consigning herself to uninquisitiveness. However, Remus seemed to decide the conversation was over and took matters firmly into his own hands.
"Good or bad, it's nothing you should worry about, all right? Just forget about it. I'll live, and right now I'm tired. I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay," Jenni replied sullenly, feeling that giving up didn't suit her one little bit. "Goodnight, Remus."
"Goodnight." He started to walk off, but turned back. "Oh—if I were you, I'd steer clear of the right-hand third floor passage tonight. I'm taking the round-about way myself," he informed her with a ghost of his usual slow smile.
Jenni couldn't help but respond in kind. "Got it," she said. "Thanks. Hey, tell those friends of yours to stay out of trouble, all right?"
"Right. I am supposed to be a prefect, after all." His tone was wry. They both knew that Remus' friends would be likely to keep out of trouble when hell froze over.
Of course, with Voldemort growing in power by the day, who knew?
They said their good-nights again and went their separate ways. Jenni went to sleep feeling rather disappointed, but contented herself knowing that pushing things would probably have done more harm than good. Remus isn't hiding anything from himself, she thought. Just everyone else. She would trust that he had his reasons. She just hoped Morganna was having better luck with Severus and that someone would eventually tell her what it was all about.
In fact, Morganna made her attempt some time before Jenni caught up with Lupin. Severus rarely exhibited much appetite and that evening was no exception. He went down to the common room early and was there, working away, when Morganna approached him. She made sure she was facing him this time.
She swallowed hard when she saw him, observing the scowl on his face and wondering if that meant the plan was going to work. She still wasn't sure if she wanted it to. She was set to try, though, so she took a deep breath, put on her best determined look, and stepped forward.
"Hey, Severus—"
He glanced up and immediately slapped his quill down. "No, Morganna. I don't want to talk. Leave me alone!"
Morganna stopped short, every nerve in her body insisting that she should obey. Well, that was success, so far, right down to the interruption. She would have to remember to tell Jenni. With that in mind, she steeled herself and proceeded until she was standing just across from Severus.
"Don't give me that," she said. "I just wanted to ask you about this Potions thingy." She held up a sheet of parchment as evidence.
Severus stared, surprised in his turn. None of his dorm mates had given up plaguing him with questions yet, nor had anyone else who had tried talking to him outside of class, for that matter. Yet there stood Morganna Montaque with a hurt and otherwise perfectly guileless expression on her porcelain face.
Well, almost perfectly. His face fell. "You're lying," he informed her tonelessly. Morganna never had been a very good liar. He would have been disappointed, but it was a rare emotion that was strong enough to overcome the roiling curtain of bitter hate inside him. He could almost feel 'disappointment' being caught and strangled in its folds.
"I am," Morganna admitted. This, too, was part of the plan, whatever words she used to carry it off. "But since you've bitten my head off for no good reason now, I think you'd better talk to me."
Laying the piece of parchment aside, she pulled out a chair and seated herself without waiting for an invitation. She regarded him openly, taking in everything about his appearance. He looked right back, bloodless lips pressed stubbornly together. She had him in a corner, but he was not going to admit it.
"Come on, Sevvy," she implored with a note of desperation. She was improvising now. "You know you can talk to me, right? I wouldn't tell anybody."
He looked down and muttered something Morganna couldn't make out.
"All right..." she swallowed again, lowered her voice. "I know you're sworn to secrecy. The truth... the truth is that Lily made James tell, and she told me," she confessed.
Severus' head snapped up. "Oh, well, you seem well informed enough, then." He narrowed his eyes malevolently at her. "Why don't you go ask Potter? I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you all about it. He'll be glad to tell you how he saved the day with so much bravado and at great personal risk! Of course, I'm not allowed to mention that Black... Or that Lupin could... Why don't you go ask Potter?" he repeated. "He'll be glad to tell you his story, and good luck finding any truth in it!"
By this time he was glaring like he might set something on fire with his eyes—in this case, Morganna's head. When he realized it, he quickly looked away again. None of it was her fault. She didn't deserve to see the demon gnawing at his innards.
She had seen, though, and she felt her friend's pain. It was a moment before she spoke quietly:
"Well... anyone with a brain knows that James is a prat. Is it so unbelievable, then, that I should want your side of the story?"
Severus didn't reply, but he raised his eyes to hers. He was suddenly reminded very strongly of his mother. The look on her beautiful face, the accent... Angele Snape had been French, too. She had been warm-hearted and quiet, a loving mother, a perfect wife. She had been full of life. She was none of it, now. Both Severus' parents were dead. She was murdered. He was hanged.
Morganna, now. How dare she? It wasn't the first time he'd asked himself this: how did she dare to be like her? It wasn't fair. None of this was fair.
"Sevvy?" she queried tremulously, bringing him out of himself. "Severus?" She was so worried about him.
"I can't," he said. "I swore. I'm honor-bound, even if Potter thinks he's too good for such things. I'm not. I won't break my word any more than I already have for you. Go to bed, Morganna. You look pale."
There was a general pause. He stood up, but she remained seated, looking up at him with her cerulean eyes.
"Goodnight, Morganna," he said stiffly and turned away. They were both mildly surprised to note that there were other people in the common room, some of whom had been observing their conversation. Shameless Slytherins. Not all of them, of course, but most of them. They turned away when Severus got up and went to his dorm, pretending that nothing had transpired.
Morganna was glad of it. She needed time to herself. The encounter had left her pale and shaking, but not with empathy. She realized now that the burning she had felt before was the onset of one of her tremor attacks.
As soon as she felt sure that no one was watching her, she stood up and headed for her own dorm. She noticed that Severus had left his homework behind and thought about picking it up for him, but decided that he'd probably come back for it later and he wouldn't like to find it missing. She left her blank piece of parchment there, too.
Sassy Bishop and Marguerite Tempscire were chatting animatedly about boys when Morganna entered the room. Normally she would have joined in the gossip, but she crawled into her bed and drew the curtains of the four-poster with hardly a smile to put her roommates off asking questions. They didn't know the true nature of her troubles and they weren't going to find out now. Let them whisper and wonder what it was all about.
After a while, Morganna had to smile in between bouts of pain. The plan had worked, hadn't it? It hadn't been so bad, either. She had not learned as much as she'd wanted to, but at least Severus had admitted something had happened. Moreover, she felt the encounter had ultimately deepened their relationship, and that was something to be glad about! When she fell asleep it was with happy fantasies about the future.
What she did not know was that Severus' books got back to him by the hands of one of the less discreet observers in the common room. She was Akira Basiatos, a girl in Severus' year. She seemed to have a sixth sense for trouble. It attracted her like the proverbial vulture to carrion. Morganna also didn't know that she had associated off and on with Severus ever since their third year and was, in fact, the same dark red-head girl Jenni had seen with him in the midst of a Gryffindor snow war that January.
No one slept easily that night, no matter his or her mood upon falling asleep. A pall hung over the castle.
Morganna thanked me for helping her with Severus. The plan worked well, she said. She never told me what it was about, and I forgot all about it in the events of the next few weeks.