Dumbledore's POV
The doors finally open, but it is only Argus Filch. My face instantly returns to pure anxiousness. 'He's lost it' Argus says approaching me at my desk. 'Pardon?' I say. What was he on about? 'Severus' he says. 'He's lost it' he repeats.
Minerva quickly makes her way through the open doors and straight to where Argus stands. She shoots him a disapproving look. 'Where is he Minerva?' I ask. 'He is sitting on the staircase, he refuses to come up' she answers. 'Argus could you please make some rounds, Minerva and I have to talk' I tell him. He hesitates for a minute then nods and leaves.
'I think he's just worried' she says after Argus has disappeared. 'Because Voldemort has finally made contact' I say. She gives a small gasp but I shrug. 'What happens now?' she asks. 'He has to see the message, before Argus gets rid of it' I say. She looks puzzled. 'It will just stay between us four for now' I tell her. She nods. 'What about Narissa?' she questions. 'I don't want to worry her just yet' I answer. 'Severus can't look after her while he is like this' she states. 'I might add a fifth person into this' I say. She stays quiet for a while then finally speaks up. 'Who?' she asks anxiously. 'Remus Lupin'
Lupin's POV
I hear faint chatter going on in the world in front of my eyelids, but I can't seem to wake up. Heat begins to rise to my face and I start to panic. Why can't I wake up? I feel a warm hand grab my shoulder, then gently start to rub it.
My eyes finally flutter open and I see Izzy kneeling before me. 'Hey' she says calmly. I sit myself up and turn my legs back around. When did I fall asleep? 'Are you alright?' she asks worryingly. I blink rapidly for a few seconds before answering her. 'Yeah. I'm fine'.
Pansy sits on her bed with her legs crossed, observing me. 'What?' I ask her. 'You growl in your sleep' she laughs. 'And you snore' I say, getting to my feet. Izzy begins laughing then suddenly stops. I kneel down in front of her, placing my hands on her shoulders. 'She's going to be okay' I tell her. 'How do you know?' she asks, starting to tear up. 'That mother of yours is made of steel' I say. 'I would know, I did grow up with her. She has been through some tough situations, and this is no different' I pull her into a hug. She goes weak like she did last night, so I grab her legs and pull her into me, for support of course.
I hear someone walk through the door, but I don't bother to turn around. 'Isn't that my job' A voice says. I could identify it as Draco. No, I wanted to say. I also wanted to tell him that he has no idea what is going on so he should just butt out. But I kept quiet. 'Oi!' he yells. I turn my head to look at him. His eyes are full of hate and jealousy. 'Shut up Draco' Pansy says. 'What did you just say to me?' he demands. Izzy begins to cry, in which my grips tightens in attempt to comfort her. 'Tell him to go away' she whispers to me. If I tell him to go away, would he think worse of it?
'You should go' I tell him. 'I think you should take your hands off my girl' he shoots back. Anger instantly rises through my body. 'I think you should stop being an arse' Pansy jumps in. Draco stands dumbstruck. 'How about you just keep your comments to yourself' he says to her. 'She's not your property!' she yells at him. Izzy begins to shake in my arms. 'Stop' I say calmly. 'How about you peel yourself away from her before I do it myself' he threatens. 'How about you just piss off' I say back. 'That's it!' he yells and begins to come at me. 'Mr Malfoy!' a voice yells. It's Minerva. He whips his head around. 'Remus, you come with me, and bring her with you' she says to me.
I pick Izzy up, just as I had the night before and make my way towards the door. Draco begins to growl at me. Little does he know, I can give out a ten times bigger growl than him. 'Take her to Albus' office' she instructs. I nod and begin to make my way to the destination, feeling like I had last night.
Severus' POV
'Mudbloods are not welcome' I read aloud. 'V' I whispered afterwards. Smeared in blood over the walls is a message from Voldemort. Remus walks up beside me. 'Bloody hell' he whispers. I look at my feet. I feel a hand on my shoulder. 'How is she?' he asks. 'The same' I mutter.
I look up to see Minerva walking down the corridor towards us. 'Albus has instructed Argus to clean it off at once' she announces. Remus steps forward. 'With what?' he sighs, tracing his finger over the v. 'Anything that will work' Minerva answers. Argus steps beside us with a mop. 'What is it?' he asks.
Remus sniffs his finger. 'Blood' he says. Argus drops his mop. I let out a groan. 'Human?' Minerva questions. 'Mhmm' is all he lets out. Argus begins to back away. 'That's disgusting' he hisses.
'I didn't say it was' Remus says turning around. 'But you implied it' Argus spits back. 'Where is your cat?' he asks. Argus' face goes pale. Remus begins to smile. 'Indeed it is human' he notes. 'That's not very funny' Minerva says. Remus drops his grin. 'Whose it is, well I may need to sniff a little more to work that out' he says. 'Then hurry up and do it' I snarl. His face goes blank. 'Of course Professor' he says quietly. Since when does he not address me by Severus? He leans in so that his nose is hovering a millimetre away from the blood. 'The blood of a death eater' he concludes. 'A what?' Argus asks. 'He killed one of his own?' Minerva questions. 'He must have' Remus says.
'Excuse me' Argus says. We all turn to look at him. 'What is a death eater?' he asks. 'A witch or wizard that follows Voldemort' I say. Minerva shoots me a disapproving look. 'He is going to come after us sooner or later anyway' I mutter. 'So he killed someone who respected him?' Argus asks. 'Yep' Remus says.
'Pomona says that the girls are infected with a rare poison' Minerva says. 'What type of poison?' I ask. 'Rare, duh' Argus says, attempting to wipe the blood off the wall. 'Shut up' Remus tells him. 'Um, I'll go get a scrubbing brush' Argus says, then takes off. 'Don't be too harsh' Minerva tells Remus. 'Yeah, we all know he can be stupid' I mutter. 'Is it curable?' Remus asks. Minerva begins to fidget with her fingers. I stare long and hard at her. 'We don't know yet' she admits. 'You what?!' I practically yell. 'Severus please' she begs. 'She is in there dying!' I yell. 'Just calm down' Remus says cautiously. 'Stay out of this Lupin' I warn him. 'We are trying to work it out' She cries. 'Never mind, I'll do it myself' I say, spinning on my heel and storming away from them.
3 days later
Lupin's POV
I stand outside the gates to Hogwarts beside Albus Dumbledore. We have been standing out here in the open looking towards the woods for about an hour, dead silent. I glance sideways at him. 'Something to say Remus?' he asks. 'Shouldn't he be here now?' I ask him. 'Horace Slughorn is known for not being on time' he replies. 'Why did he leave anyway?' I ask. 'Why all the questions Remus?' Albus turns on me. 'Just making conversation' I shrug. I decide to not talk any longer as Albus looks aggravated. I swear his beard has gotten slightly greyer over the last couple of days.
A miniature tornado-created by old brown leaves and dust-swiftly comes into view around the corner of the trees. 'Watch it' Albus warns. He then pulls a part of his robe up to protect his eyes. I look down at my clothing. What was I going to do, us my tie as a blindfold?
I squeeze my eyes shut just as the dust flew into my face. 'It's gone' Albus says. I open my eyes to see a reasonably short old man standing before us.
My eyes take time to adjust before I realise its Horace.
'Evening gentlemen' he greets. 'Now isn't the time' Albus says, walking back towards Hogwarts. 'What's his problem?' Horace asks me. I shrug. 'I guess he is just stressed' I say. He nods. 'Shall we?' I ask, gesturing towards the castle. 'We shall' he replies.
Pansy's POV
'Wait, so he has been working non-stop for the last three days straight?!' I ask, shockingly. I was standing in the corridor outside the potions room with Izzy and Gilderoy. 'That's right' he confirms. 'I guess that's what you do for someone you love' Izzy sighs. 'That can't be healthy' I say. 'Well he might get some rest when Slughorn gets here' Gilderoy says. 'I suppose' I sigh. 'Should we check on him?' I ask. 'Last time I did that, he threw a test tube at me' he says, alarmingly.
'Don't take it personally' Izzy comforts him. 'We've all been under a lot of stress' she says. 'How are you doing?' I ask her. 'I've been better' she replies. I put my arms around her and give her a squeeze. 'Thank you' she whispers when I let go. 'Where's that Malfoy kid?' Gilderoy asks. 'Draco' Izzy corrects. 'Draco' he mutters. 'I don't know, and I honestly don't care' she says. Gilderoy steps back. He looks at me with the what should I say impression. I shake my head. I've got a feeling it's something Izzy and I should discuss alone.
'Is he still in there?' McGonagall asks, coming into view behind the others. Izzy sighs. 'This is getting ridiculous!' McGonagall exclaims.
Without even knocking, she bursts through the door. All 3 of us look at each other, then quickly follow her. Snape was standing at a cauldron with his back turned. 'Severus!' she yells. He turns around much slowly than usual. Gilderoy lets out a yelp. 'Oh Merlin!' Izzy yells at him.
Words can't explain how horrible he looks. His face is incredibly pale, bags have formed under his soon-to-be bloodshot eyes and his hair looks even greasier than normal.
His mouths begins to move slowly, but no words come out. 'Enough' McGonagall silences him. Not that he was talking. 'Horace is in Albus' office, from now onwards I forbid you to do any work besides sitting beside Lily's side' she orders. He is about to object when Izzy cuts in. 'Please dad' she beckons. 'I can't lose you too'.
That was all it took. He drops his stirring rod in the cauldron and moves to sit on a stool. McGonagall instantly pulls it out of the cauldron and sets it aside. 'Have you eaten?' she asks. He shakes his head. 'Have you had any fluids?' He shakes his head. 'And obviously you've had no sleep' she concludes. 'Go back to your quarters, I'll send someone with food and beverages up shortly' she instructs. I elbow Gilderoy. 'Ah yes, I'd be more than willing' he says straight away.
A sudden noise in the doorway makes me jump. Filch stands with his lantern, looking almost as pale as Snape. 'Merlin's beard' he says. 'You look horrible Severus'. Snape looks up. 'Thank you' he mutters. 'Argus, please escort him to his quarters' McGonagall says. 'C'mon' he says. Snape pulls himself off the stool and makes his way towards Filch, using the bench as support. 'Here ya go' Filch says, offering his free arm. Snape uses his shoulder as support as he disappears through the doorway. 'Thank you for doing this' McGonagall tells Gilderoy. 'Always knew you'd be fit for a bitch' I snicker at him. He gives me a sly grin. McGonagall begins to walk out when she stops. 'You must not use such language Miss Parkinson. 10 points from Slytherin' she says, then leaves. 'Good job' he says. 'Shut up' I say, hitting him playfully.
Dumbledore's POV
'Pardon Horace?' I say as I take my seat behind my desk. 'I said, I can save all the hassle of trying to work out what this is' he repeats. I look at Remus. He looks as confused as me. 'I don't understand' I say. At this moment, Poppy Pomfrey enters the room. 'What is it?' I demand. 'Both of their temperatures have risen to an extremely dangerous number' she replies quickly. 'I don't know what will finish them first, the thing itself or the heat' she adds. Remus goes pale. 'How long?' I ask. 'If their temperature gets any higher….' She starts. She looks me straight in the eyes. 'They will both be dead by tomorrow' she says solidly.
I do the first thing that comes to my mind. I slam my fist on my desk. I had put enough force into it that not only is there a hole in my desk, but my hand is covered in cuts that are seeping blood. 'Albus…' she trails off. 'It's okay' I assure them. 'I didn't even feel it'
Horace sucks in his breath, which reminds me that he standing in the room. 'What were you going to say Horace?' I ask him. 'What about?' he replies. 'About saving us the hassle' I remind him. 'Well, I already know what it is' he says. I look up at him. Both Remus and Poppy look at him too. 'The problem is, only one can live'
A/N: the next chapter will be a bit different in the style of writing. Also the next chapter will have a bit of a raunchy scene. Just a warning. Anyway please let me know whether you like this story or not, I have had moments where I have debated whether or not I would continue.