Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: Not mine! Everything recognizable belongs to J.K. Rowling!

I love reviews! They make my day and my self-esteem go up! So thank you to all who reviewed!

Severus had absolutely no problem coming up with salve quickly. During the war he went through them incredibly quickly and made sure to always have them on hand because he never knew what he would encounter.

"Damn, Severus," Rabastan muttered, swapping the gold for the salve. "I didn't think I'd be getting it until Wednesday."

"Oh, Slughorn had started the bases for Madam Pomfrey; I just had to finish it. The man never double checks anything." Severus lied easily. Rabastan accepted the lie and the salve. His curiosity getting the better of him, he asked, "Why did you need me to brew it?"

Lestrange's eyes swiveled around to make sure no one was listening in, "Sheldon Dawson came back from holiday with wounds that looked bad. He says they weren't from the Dark Lord but we don't believe him. We all know that he gave Sheldon an important mission over the summer and he failed it. It's his own fault—the idiot—he should've been more careful."

Severus stared, at a complete loss of words. He was preparing for a story about a father who'd gotten a little carried away with punishing his son, not a story about Voldemort. He didn't even know who Sheldon Dawson was…probably got killed before he'd joined his ranks in his sixth year. And a mission…what could this mission have been?

"Anyways," Lestrange continued, "This will definitely help him."

Severus gave a tiny little nod. Pushing Voldemort out of his mind for now, he headed back to the Great Hall for breakfast.

He was eager to see how his potion worked on the Gryffindors. Choosing a seat with his back to the wall so he could see the rest of the Hall, he waited, grabbing breakfast. He hoped that Lily wouldn't get caught in the mix of it. He didn't want her to look stupid…not that she could…

He quickly caught her eye. He mouthed, Don't drink the pumpkin juice!

Lily frowned. Why?

Because it's spiked.

What?

It's spiked with a potion. Do not drink it!

Okay….

Lily bit her lip and gave a long stare at the pitcher of pumpkin juice. He could even hear her sigh as she grabbed the water pitcher instead.

Severus sighed with relief that Lily wouldn't be affected by the potion. Now he could focus on something else.

"Can I copy your potions homework?" Evan asked, sitting down next t o him. He grabbed some toast and began to spread jam on it. "I forgot to do it last night."

"You didn't forget," Severus scowled. "You chose not to do it. I watched you play chess with Mulciber last night instead of writing it. It's your own fault."

"Can I copy?" Evan asked again. Severus curled his lip.

"Didn't you just hear what I said? No, you may not," Severus replied. "You should've done it last night. It's not my fault."

"Please?"

"No!" Severus snapped, getting irritated. "You could—"

He stopped short. A shrill voice rang above the morning chatter in the Great Hall. He grinned. The potion worked. He saw a tinge of blue on the girl's face as she screamed in a high note.

"What's going onnn?" She sang loudly, her eyes wide. The Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws and Slytherins roared with laughter as every single Gryffindor began to turn blue in the face. The Gryffindors began to scream in a high trill.

"Help! Help! Help! Oh my god! Help!"

"You're BLUE! Oh my god! We're blue!"

"What's going on?"

They'd begin to raise their hands in alarm only to find that their hands and arms had turned blue as well. Severus cracked a grin. Stupid Gryffindors.

Severus cast a glance at the staff table. He saw the baffled looks on some, angry looks on others and amused on all the rest. Severus quickly averted his eyes downwards as Dumbledore's blue ones came his way. He brought up his Occlumency shields as quick as he could.

"I didn't make the potion," Severus heard Lucius say.

Severus shot a look down where his former friend sat and narrowed his eyes in warning. Lucius didn't even acknowledge him.

"It was Snape who made me the potion." Lucius said. Severus groaned. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Severus tried to send message to Lucius telepathically down the table. It didn't work. Why did Lucius have to be like that? All snooty and stuck up? "Snape, the second year. That one."

Severus ducked his head to avoid the Slytherin's stares as they all cast not-so-subtle looks at the boy who just humiliated all of Gryffindor House. Damn it Lucius! You were supposed to keep this a secret!

XXXXXXXXXX

"Good job, Snape!"

"That was hysterical!"

"Brilliant, Snape!"

Everywhere Severus went, he got acclaim from his House. Fortunately for him, none of the teachers could pin this one him. He'd left no tracks and all the teachers had was the students' word, which definitely wasn't enough to actually receive a detention—which he would know all about since he'd tried to get Harry Potter in detention as many times as possible

He gave a slight smirk and a nod at whoever complemented him. Oh yes, this felt good. It was nice to have his potions skills noticed by others.

"Snape."

"Wonderful," Severus muttered underneath his breath, his good mood evaporating. He turned around slowly; rolling his wand that was in his pocket between his fingertips. It never hurt to be careful, especially with Potter and Black. "What?"

"You're going to regret spiking our juice," Potter threatened. Severus almost laughed. Potter was not threatening, especially since his face was slightly blue and he still had a squeaky voice since Madam Pomfrey's antidote hadn't fully kicked in yet. Severus had seen a lot of threatening things and Potter did not fit in that category.

"Am I?" Severus asked, raising an eyebrow. He allowed a small, smug smile to escape.

"Better watch your back, Snape," Black sneered.

"You're not remotely frightening," Severus scoffed. "And I didn't spike your juice. That was Lucius Malfoy. If you have a problem, bring it up with him. Not me."

"You made the potion, Snivill—" Black began but Severus had his wand out and pointed at Black's face.

"Don't even say it," he snarled. He took a step forward causing Black and Potter to take a step back.

Black narrowed his eyes angrily. He opened his mouth to finish the nasty name.

"Remember what happened last time?" Severus spat, his adrenaline rising. "I'll make it ten times worse! Forget about going to the Hospital Wing, just book yourself a bed at St. Mungo's."

Potter took a step back. Clearly he remembered the painful boils Severus had given him.

"Come on, Sirius," he grumbled. "We'd better go and start on our homework since Remus isn't around to copy off of."

Severus bit his tongue and smirked inside. They were idiots.

"Where is that guy anyways?" He heard Black ask to Potter.

"At his mother's, I think," Potter replied glumly. "She's ill."

Severus rolled his eyes and made a scornful noise underneath his breath. Merlin these two were stupid. How did they still not realize that Lupin was a werewolf and the full moon was last night? Forcing himself to not say anything out loud, he stomped off in the other direction.

He didn't get to see James Potter casting a strange look at Severus's retreating back and whispering to Sirius Black, "He knows something about Remus."

XXXXXXXXXX

Severus waved his wand without any thought. Flitwick had shut all of the windows and blew out any sources of light. As of right now, the second years were practicing the Lumos Charm. He hadn't thought he could be so bored but he was wrong.

He glanced over at Lily, who sat right beside him in Charms. They were the only two to light the room up with their Lumos charms. Everyone else was struggling.

"If Remus was here, he'd be able to help us," Potter said loudly from behind Severus and Lily. "But he isn't here right now. I wonder why that is?"

Severus snorted.

"Maybe Snape can shed some light on the situation," Black snickered at his own joke.

"Yes, maybe he can," Potter said. Severus looked swiftly at Potter and Black and saw that they were staring intently at him through the dark, looking for a reaction. He turned back around and kept his mask in place.

Severus wanted to punch Potter in the face really, really hard. Severus wanted to punch himself for ever letting any hint leave his mouth. Now Potter knew that he knew something. That boy would not leave him alone!

Potions hadn't been too bad, only hints dropped. And dinner hadn't been bad either. Potter had just stared at him the whole time, which Severus could deal with.

It was after dinner that Potter really had bugged out on him.

"Wait! Snape!" Potter grabbed Severus's arm, pulling him back before he could escape to the dungeons.

"Do not touch me!" Severus hissed, smacking the other boy's hand off of him and yanking his arm away from Potter's grip.

"Wait," Potter panted. "I'm sorry 'bout that."

Severus snorted.

"W-What do you know?" Potter hesitated, finally getting the question out into the open.

"Finally decided to ask, didn't you?" Severus glared at Potter, casting an icy, disdainful look at the boy who had stolen Lily from him, tormented him for years, and had just threatened him—or tried to—earlier in the morning.

"You know…I…Remus…" Potter said incoherently, waving his hands.

"Potter, start speaking coherently or I'm leaving," Severus growled.

"Sirius asked about where Remus was and you made a noise," Potter blubbered. He couldn't meet Severus's eyes so he stared at his shoes. "But it, uh, it sounded like you knew where he was. It's just…it's just we haven't seen him in a while…he just, umm…he just left…."

"I don't know," Severus lied smoothly; not telling would make Potter go crazy. "I don't know anything."

"Yes, you do! You do know!" There was a pause. "Please, Snape, we're really worried about him."

"I know nothing," Severus said stiffly, suddenly feeling…feeling…

Pity.

Well, there was a word that Severus never thought he'd feel for James Potter. Not genuine at least. He absolutely hated Potter but at the same time, he completely understood what Potter was going through at the moment.

Severus bit his tongue and contemplated James Potter. Should he tell Potter about Lupin's lycanthropy? No, he quickly decided. He'd already told the whole school before; he wasn't going to do it again. It wasn't his place. If Lupin wanted to tell his friends, he could.

He remembered when he joined the Order and they were both spying for Dumbledore, Lupin with the werewolves and Severus with the Death Eaters. It was just after Scrimgeour had taken the position of Minister that Lupin had helped him out of a tight spot with the werewolves when Voldemort had sent him to negotiate with Britain's werewolf packs since he was "the only man who wouldn't botch up the Treaty." Well, more like they'd helped each other out of the tight spot. He didn't admit it out loud but after that, he'd seen Lupin in a better, less hateful light.

"I can't tell you," Severus said quietly.

Potter looked pained. "Snape…."

"He'll tell you when he's ready," Severus said. "It's not my secret to tell."

Potter looked at Severus completely expressionless. "Yeah, okay. Sorry I bothered you." He muttered. He gave a half-shrug and spun around on his heel, taking off in the other direction.

Severus just stood there. Was he really feeling bad for Potter? Good lord…he could not be feeling this way for that boy. Granted, he'd changed a lot from his other life-self but still…it was Potter.

Feeling rather annoyed right now at Lupin for not telling his friends and now having Potter on his case, he took off to the Hospital Wing.

"Young man!" Madam Pomfrey called as Severus rushed past her into the room.

He yanked open the curtains to the last bed, knowing it would be Lupin. Yup. He wasn't surprised to see the second year boy lying on the bed with scratches on his face, pale and sickly.

"Muffliato!" Severus thought, quickly putting the Charm around Lupin's bed so this conversation would be private.

"Snape," Lupin said. His face was shocked and then it rapidly turned into worry. "What're you doing here?"

"Lupin," Severus said slowly. "Tell your friends."

"What?"

"Tell you friends about your lycanthropy," Severus said firmly.

"W-What? H-How d-do you know?" Lupin stammered. His already pale face turned a ghost white.

"I just overheard Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey talking," Severus lied. "Tell you friends. Tell Potter and Black."

"What about Peter?" Lupin asked, catching on to his missing friend.

"Don't tell Pettigrew," Snape replied icily, his hatred for the rat-man rising. "Just Potter and Black."

Lupin didn't seem to understand why not but tears welled up in his eyes and the stuttering became even worse. "I-I can't. T-They'll leave me. They won't want anything to do with me after they find out about my L-Lyca—my problem."

Severus gripped the end of the bed. "They won't leave you. I promise. But you've got to tell them. They're going crazy. They're driving me crazy."

Lupin's shoulder slumped and he looked extremely defeated. "D-Dumbledore's going to kick me out…parents won't want me around their kids."

"No one else is going to find out," Severus replied. "Just tell Potter and Black."

"I can't, Severus," Remus said softly. He pulled his knees close to him and wrapped his arms around them. Severus registered his first name. It was weird seeing Remus in front of him so vulnerable when he was used to seeing him strong and determined.

It was too weird.

"You're a Gryffindor." Severus scoffed. "Aren't Gryffindors supposed to be stupidly courageous and brave?" He flicked his wand discreetly and took down his Muffliato spell, he turned around, about to leave.

"Yes, but—" Remus didn't get to finish. The curtains were whipped open.

"Mr. Snape!" Madam Pomfrey whispered loudly and crossly. "Get out of here! You are distressing my patient! Now get!"

Severus opened his mouth to say he was just about to leave when Remus interrupted him.

"No, he can stay," Remus said. "If he wants."

"No he cannot!" Madam Pomfrey snapped. "You need rest and he is distracting you from that!"

Severus gave a final piercing look at Remus and allowed himself to be escorted out of the Hospital Wing but not before he saw Remus's shoulders sag and the expression of despair settle on his face.