Harry tossed his bag onto the sofa in Marauder's Quarters and turned the little wolf figurine on the fireplace mantle, making the Pensieve and memory case come out of the wall. He read the titles of all the many memories and chose one from his father's shelf labelled 'Saving Snape'. He frowned at the name. When had his father ever saved Snape, his sworn enemy? That would be like Harry saving Draco Malfoy.
A curious look still on his face, Harry poured the memory into the Pensieve and watched for a couple seconds as the material swirled around then put his face in the water. He fell through the dark and then his feet hit the hard floor. Harry gazed around and found himself to be in Gryffindor Tower and it was dark outside. Harry glanced into the sky and saw the full moon suspended high in the darkness.
"You did what?" a familiar voice shouted and Harry swung around to face the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories. He watched as his teenage father and godfather came running down to the common room, James looking furious and Sirius looking slightly amused.
"It's nothing, Prongs. I simply told him to use a stick and hit the tree's root," Sirius shrugged, throwing himself into a chair in front of the dying fire.
"That's not nothing, Sirius! He could see Remus! He might get killed!" James shouted and Sirius shrugged again.
"Like we actually care about the git," Sirius said and Harry knew he was talking about Severus Snape.
"What the hell were you thinking, Sirius?" James yelled and he seemed to be getting madder by the second.
"I was thinking I was doing the world a favour by possibly getting rid of Snape," Sirius said, clearly unfazed by what he had done.
"You're a bloody idiot, Sirius. You know that? A bloody idiot," James said and then ran out the portrait door, Harry following quickly.
He kept pace with his father easily, having to go a bit slower so as not to get ahead of him. He followed his father out into the pitch black grounds. Where was James going? What had Sirius done that had got his best friend, his brother, so mad at him? As James began to slow, Harry heard the familiar sound of swiping branches and knew they were near the Whomping Willow.
"Snape!" James suddenly yelled and took off running again, taking Harry by surprise. Harry followed again and stopped with a shocked expression when he saw his father tackle a teenage Severus Snape to the ground. Snape had been attempting to hit a root with a stick to freeze the tree. Standing behind James and Snape who were still on the ground, Harry bent down to try see into the opening in the tree trunk. He gasped when he saw a bushy brown tail disappearing from sight. Had Snape seen Remus? He must have which would mean this was the night that Snape had discovered Remus' condition.
"Get off me, Potter!" Snape snapped, pushing James off him and getting to his feet.
"Are you mad? You could have been injured or killed by this tree!" James said loudly, also getting to his feet and staring into Snape's cold, black eyes.
"I saw him, Potter," Snape said quietly and Harry saw his father's eyes grow wide. "I saw Lupin. He's a werewolf. I knew something was weird about him, about all of you Marauders," he sneered the word.
"Snape, you can't say anything," James said and Harry heard desperation in his voice.
"Look at you, Potter. Do you honestly think you just did me a favour?" Snape said, glaring at James. "Black tried to kill me by telling me to do this. You were in on it, weren't you? This was part of the plan."
"Snape, there was no plan. I wasn't in on anything. I just saved your life," James said, glaring back at Snape.
"I don't care. You did nothing for me," Snape said.
"You owe me, Snape. I just saved your life. Don't tell anyone about Remus," James said firmly.
"I owe you nothing," Snape spat.
"Fine," James said angrily. "Let's go to Dumbledore. He'll sort this out."
"Luckily, I am already here," Dumbledore said and Harry, James, and Snape turned around to face the headmaster.
"Sir, he's seen Remus. He's going to tell," James said quickly and, once again, desperately.
"Mr. Potter, please calm down. Mr. Snape is not about to say anything," Dumbledore gazed at Snape over his half moon spectacles as if daring the Slytherin to object to his words. "Mr. Snape, you have discovered a secret about Mr. Lupin and you must keep it a secret. You cannot tell a soul about what you have discovered. If I find out you have revealed Mr. Lupin's secret, I will have no choice but to expel you from Hogwarts. Understand?"
"Yes, sir. I won't tell," Snape said quietly.
"Very good. Mr. Snape, I believe you will have a debt to pay to Mr. Potter. He has saved your life. In time, you must repay this debt," Dumbledore said, looking between the two students. "Now, off to bed. Both of you."
James and Snape both ran back to the castle as fast as they could. As soon as they were in the Entrance Hall, Snape turned to James. "You're lucky, Potter. However, I owe you nothing. I will never repay you. It is because of you and your friends that this happened. I owe you nothing. If I had died, it would have been your fault," he glared at James then turned and disappeared into the dungeons, James staring after him.
Harry felt himself rising up through darkness and then found himself back in Marauder's Quarters. He was stunned by what he had just seen. Sirius and Remus had never told him about this. They had never told him that Sirius had tricked Snape into trying to get into the Whomping Willow to see Remus in hopes of Snape getting injured or...killed. How could Sirius have been so cruel? So willing to let someone lose their life? So willing to risk someone finding out about Remus' lycanthropy?
As Harry replaced the memory and grabbed his bag, heading out of the Quarters, he told himself he would have to talk to his guardians about what he had just seen. Was this the reason Snape had tried to save him in first year when Quirrell was trying to knock him off his broom? Did Snape believe saving Harry would settle the debt he owed to James Potter? Questions raced each other in Harry's mind as he entered Gryffindor Tower and headed up to the boys' dorms. All the beds around his were occupied, telling Harry it must be pretty late for everyone to already be in bed. Not bothering to check the time or his magic level, as it would return to normal during the night, Harry changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed. He pulled off his wand and holster and his glasses before lying down and settling into a fitful sleep, full of dreams of his guardians and father torturing Snape and other Slytherins.
Sunday came quickly, exciting Harry slightly because he could finally start training again once his guardians got back. It also reminded Harry of what he had seen in the Pensieve on Friday night. He hadn't forgotten that he had to talk to his guardians about what he had seen in his father's memory.
He knew Ron and Hermione were curious to know why he hadn't trained anymore after the short while he did with them on Friday but he wasn't about to tell them the truth. He would just have to figure out something to tell them. His magic had returned Friday night as he slept and he had been tempted to do more training but knew better than to break his promise to his godfather.
Harry was sitting at Gryffindor table with Ron and Hermione and they were once again discussing the memory in which Harry had viewed. He had told his friends of what he had witnessed on Saturday and they had been visibly shocked at the behaviour of Sirius. Harry hated to think that his godfather, one of the men he loved and looked up to the most had been someone who didn't care who got hurt or possibly killed, just as long as he got a laugh out of it.
"I can't believe Sirius would have been okay with Snape being killed," Hermione said.
"Well, he definitely didn't show it if he did care. It was nothing but a prank to him," Harry said bitterly, hating that the subject had been brought up once again.
"I'm sure he didn't mean for Snape to actually try get into the Whomping Willow," Hermione said. "I bet Sirius thought Snape would ignore him. I mean, what are the odds that Snape would listen to Sirius just because Sirius said he may be able to find out about Remus?"
"True, but it's not that. It's the fact that Sirius did it in the first place and didn't seem to care what happened. He obviously didn't think about what would happen if Snape had realized what Remus was, which he did. He just wanted to see if Snape would try it and wanted to see what damage Snape would receive," Harry said, trying to block out thoughts of Sirius making plans to hurt or kill Snape.
Harry knew of the rivalry between the Marauders and Snape but he had never once thought it would go so far as to actually try and hurt or kill each other. Nor did he believe his father would have been the one to save the Slytherin. It always seemed that as soon as he thought he knew his guardians, something popped up to make him question them and their past.
"Harry," Ron said and Harry looked at him. "They're here," he nodded at the doors.
Harry turned and saw Remus and Sirius standing in the doorway, talking to McGonagall and Flitwick. "I almost don't want to talk to them right now," he sighed, turning away from his guardians.
"Harry, they're your family," Hermione said. "You should find out about that memory."
"But what if Sirius really did mean for Snape to be killed? I mean, I never thought Sirius would be one to do that, but now I'm not so sure. Not after that memory," Harry said, looking at his friends.
"Even if he did, you know he's not the same person he was when he was our age. He's even admitted that he was stupid when he was in school," Ron told his best friend.
"You know he's changed, Harry. You know he's not who he was when he went to school," Hermione added. "You owe it to him to get the story."
Harry looked down at his plate, knowing his friends were right about it all. Sirius had changed; he was not the same person that went to Hogwarts with James Potter and Remus Lupin. There were still parts of him that were the same, but he was much different. "I'll see you later," he said, standing up.
"Bye, Harry," they said and watched as Harry walked to Remus and Sirius, noticing that many students were staring at Sirius.
"Hey, Harry," Remus and Sirius smiled at him.
"Hi," Harry said.
The Marauders frowned slightly at their charge's tone. "Let's go outside, kiddo."
"Okay," Harry nodded and walked between his guardians. For a while they walked in silence and Harry knew they could tell something was bothering him. They always knew.
"What's going on, pup?" Remus asked finally.
Harry sighed. "Friday night I watched one of my dad's memories in the Pensieve."
"Which one?" Sirius asked as he glanced at Remus, sharing expressions.
"The one where he saved Snape after you told Snape to try get into the Whomping Willow to find out about Remus," Harry said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. He continued watching his feet, not wanting to meet the gazes of his guardians but he heard them both sigh.
"Harry, I can't imagine what you must think of me," Sirius said. "I wasn't thinking at all when I told Snape to try that. I had no idea what would happen. I never thought of what might happen if he actually tried to catch a glimpse of Remus."
"But he did. That was when he found out about Remus. If it hadn't been for Dumbledore, Snape would have told everyone," Harry said. Remus and Sirius exchanged another look and then sat down on the ground, bringing Harry with them.
"Harry, I never meant for what happened to happen, believe me. I would never have done anything to harm Remus, you know that," Sirius told him.
"But you still told Snape to try it even though you knew he could have been hurt or killed and in the memory when my dad was talking to you, it was like you didn't care," Harry said, pulling at the grass by his feet.
"I was stupid in school, Harry. I'm not proud of everything I did, this being one of those things," Sirius said.
"So, what exactly happened? Why did my dad save Snape? I thought they hated each other," Harry said, still staring at the grass.
"We're still not sure what drove your dad to save Snape but we think it's because he could never have let someone die if there was something he could do about it," Remus said softly. "James never regretted what he did that night, pup. Whether Severus appreciated it or not, James was glad he saved Severus."
"Why did you do it in the first place, Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Honestly? I have no idea. I think I wanted to see if he would take what I said seriously. He never listened to me so I figured, why would he this time? Snape may not be my favourite person in the world but believe me when I say I never would have wanted him to be killed. As much as I hate him, I wouldn't wish him dead," Sirius told his godson who gazed out at the Black Lake.
"Did Snape ever pay the debt he owed to my dad while you were in school?" Harry asked.
"No, he didn't. He swore he would never pay that debt because he didn't owe James anything," Remus shook his head.
"I think he paid it off in my first year. At my first Quidditch game when Quirrell was trying to knock me off my broom when we thought it was Snape but Snape was actually trying to save me. He saved my life in the game. He paid off the debt to my dad by saving me," Harry explained.
"Just because Snape said he didn't owe your father something it doesn't mean he believed it. He may have always known he was in debt to James. He must have seen that as the best way to settle it," Remus said.
When Harry didn't say anything, Sirius spoke. "I really do regret that night, Harry. I've wished I could take it back since it happened. I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I know it's a poor explanation but I think it's the best I've got."
Harry pulled at the grass again then turned his head and met his godfather's blue eyes. "I know you'd never hurt anyone intentionally. Not even Snape and especially not Remus or my dad."
"Besides, no one really got hurt that night," Remus said and Harry nodded.
"I'm sorry, Sirius. I shouldn't have been so critical or even thought you'd mean to hurt or kill someone. I know you wouldn't. I never should have thought you would," Harry said sincerely.
Sirius put an arm around Harry and pulled him close. "If I was you, I would have had the same thoughts. Anyone would no matter who it was. I should have told you about that night so it wouldn't have come as a shock to you."
"I still should never have believed you'd mean for someone to get hurt," Harry said, feeling ashamed at the thoughts and dreams he had had since he had viewed the memory.
"It's okay, kiddo. I kind of deserve it. It wasn't one of the best things I did in my years at school. Just know I'll never do anything to hurt you," Sirius said.
"I know you won't," Harry said and rested against his godfather's chest. Minutes passed and they sat in silence, Harry still resting against his godfather and still feeling slightly ashamed of the awful thoughts he had had of the man who loved him so much.
"So, Harry," Remus said, breaking the silence. "Sirius told me you had been training a little bit too hard on Friday."
"I didn't mean to train that long or anything. I don't know when I'm overcharging so I can't stop. I had tried so hard not to put much power into the spells I used but obviously it didn't work. I don't know how I can control something when I have no idea when it's happening," Harry said.
"You don't feel anything when you're overcharging, do you?" Remus asked and Harry shook his head. "We need to figure out a way to make sure you know when you're overcharging so you can get control of it."
"But how? Nothing happens at all. It just happens and then my magic is drained a bit," Harry said, looking at Remus.
"We'll figure it out. We'll talk to Dumbledore and see what he thinks," Sirius said and felt Harry breathe deeply.
"Did Ron and Hermione find out about your magic?" Remus asked.
"No," Harry shook his head. "I think they almost did and I think they're wondering why I never asked them to do more training after Friday, and I'm not going to tell them about my magic either. So don't suggest it," he added quickly.
"It's your decision, Harry," Remus said. "We won't force you to tell your friends about something you don't want them to know."
"Maybe someday I'll tell them but not now. They'll just be scared and act different around me," Harry said.
"So do you want to do some training?" Remus asked and they watched a smile come onto Harry's face as he nodded. "All right. Let's get to it," he helped Harry stand and they walked away from the tree so they had an open area to train.
"I suppose you're catching onto the rule of remembering that when you're fighting more than one person, you can't let your guard down when you get one of the enemies down. You've still got others to fight," Sirius said.
"Yeah. I used it when duelling with Ron and Hermione. I got Hermione down but made myself remember I still had to fight Ron," Harry nodded.
"That's good," Remus praised. "Another bit of advice is to always focus on the task you're working on."
"Also, this is one you've heard before. Only worry about the things you can control. You'll drive yourself mad trying to handle things out of your control," Sirius said and Harry smiled.
For a couple hours, Remus and Sirius ran through bits of advice to help Harry get through any situation that may call for them. Then they did some duelling and Harry used the majority of the spells he wanted to perfect for the third task. They congratulated Harry on the progress he had made, making Harry blush slightly. He was feeling pretty good about the third task. He thought he was pretty prepared and simply needed to do a little bit more practicing. He couldn't wait for the third task, just so he could get it over with and be rid of the Triwizard Tournament.