Chapter 20: Deadly Prank

Sirius was on his way back to the castle, not paying attention to anything since he was still trying to come to terms with what had just happened with Lily.

'What are you going to tell James?' he thought to himself. 'I shouldn't tell him anything, it's for Lily to talk to him about. Although, you could at least tell him you won't be dating Lily anymore. Just apologise for doing it in the first place and…' Suddenly Sirius felt himself get slammed into a wall. "Wha…" he gasped, struggling against some kind of restraint.

"Hello Sirius," said Severus, appearing from behind a bush with his wand drawn. "How do you like that wall there?"

"Okay Severus, you got me," said Sirius, trying to laugh it off. "Do you mind, you know, letting me go? We can call it even for…whatever I did to you last time I did something to you."

"You mean dating Lily?" snarled Severus, before realising he'd said that out loud.

"What's that got to do with…oh…oh my god…" said Sirius. "You like Lily too. Oh, that is too precious."

Severus responded by holding his wand against Sirius's throat. "You do know I hold all the power here right now?" demanded Severus.

"Yeah, I know," said Sirius. "I just want to make sure you don't get any enjoyment out of this."

Severus glared at him, before punching him hard in the jaw. Despite Severus's fairly scrawny stature, the blow hurt more than Sirius thought it would. He put it down to the fact that Severus had him against a wall, and that's where most of his force was coming from. "I've been hoping to use this for a little while," said Severus, pulling a vial out of his robe pocket with a clear looking liquid.

"Do you always carry a vial of potion with you wherever you go?" asked Sirius.

"You never know when to might have the opportunity to use it," said Severus. "Now, all I want to know is: what is it about you that Lily likes that she would pick you over me?"

"Oh, that's all you want to know?" asked Sirius. "She doesn't, actually. She just…"

"LIAR!" screamed Severus, causing Sirius to flinching, at least as much as he could in his position. "I saw you, in the Three Broomsticks just now. You were holding hands like you were…" Sirius noticed Severus seemed to blush at the thought of what him and Lily had been doing.

"Come on Severus, are you really going to be like this?" asked Sirius. "Lily just wanted to talk to me as a friend about…something." Sirius didn't want to talk about what it was. He didn't want to be the one to betray Lily's trust.

"Oh yeah? What was it?" asked Severus, glaring at him as he said it.

"I…don't want to say," said Sirius. "Lily trusted me with this secret, and I have no intention of betraying that."

Severus shook his head. "You see, I don't believe that," he said. "Lily and I have been friends since before we started at Hogwarts. I think that whatever she told you is something she would have talked to me about. So, tell me, since I already know what it's going to be about."

"She wouldn't have," said Sirius, suddenly very worried since he still couldn't move. "Trust me, she didn't. And don't ask me to tell you, because she had her reasons for not telling you. Please Severus, let me go. I'm not going to tell you."

"Oh, but I think you will," said Severus, waving the vial in front of Sirius's eyes. "You see this? Do you know what this is?"

"No, but I'm assuming it's nothing good," said Sirius, wondering what the potion was with a sick feeling in his stomach.

"Do you know what Veritaserum is?" asked Severus. "It's a very powerful truth serum. I just need a few drops, and you'll tell me anything I want to know. Possibly even things I don't want to know."

"Isn't…isn't that illegal?" asked Sirius.

"You seem to be under the impression that I care what you think," said Severus, taking the stopper off the top of the vial. "Now, open wide, I have something for you." Sirius tried to keep his mouth closed, but Severus forced his lips open just enough to let a few drops through. Sirius tried to spit them back out, but Severus covered his mouth and held his head back, forcing them down his throat. "Now, speak."

"I…wasn't on a date with Lily," said Sirius, speaking completely truthfully without revealing anything, though he wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.

"Okay, fine, humour me," said Severus. "If that wasn't what you were doing, what was it?"

"I…She needed to talk to someone about something…personal," said Sirius.

"I'm her best friend, and have been for years. Why wouldn't she talk to me?" demanded Severus.

"It's…about James," said Sirius relunctantly.

Severus froze at James's name, and his eyes got darker than normal. "What?" he asked, in some kind of tranquil fury. "What about him?"

"She…she…likes him…" confessed Sirius, furious with himself despite knowing there was nothing he could do about it. "She likes him, and needed to talk to someone about it."

"That…" started Severus, but now he seemed to be at a loss for words. "It can't be true. The potion mustn't be working."

"It is," said Sirius. "If it wasn't, don't you think I'd have said something horrible about you by now?"

Severus was clearly still furious, but didn't know what to do with this information. "I…" he stammered, trying to compose himself.

"Now you know why she didn't want to tell you," said Sirius. "She knew you wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't understand," snapped Severus, back in control. "Why? Why him? Why not me? I've been there all this time. She's seen what Potter's like. What the hell does she see in him that she doesn't see in me?"

"I don't know Severus," said Sirius. "Now if you could just let me down from here…"

"How about I don't yet?" asked Severus, still looking somewhat sinister. "I mean, what I have here is a pretty unique opportunity to drill you for information. I could ask you anything and you'd be forced to answer."

"No, Severus, please…" pleaded Sirius. "Do you really think Lily will be impressed by this? She trusts me, she knows that I suspect you're heading down a Death Eater path. If you do this, you can say goodbye to any chance of ever being with her."

Severus stood for a moment, clearly considering Sirius's words. Sirius then saw what looked like Severus cursing under his breath, and releasing the spell paralysing him against the wall. "Go," was all Severus said, furious, but knowing he couldn't do anything else to Sirius without hurting his chances with Lily.

Sirius began leaving, still kicking himself for being so easily ambushed by Severus, of all people. What was he thinking, letting a jerk like him catch him off-guard? He'd have to get him back at some point. But how? Sirius was already considering what to do when he stopped dead in his tracks. Why not give him a good fright? That ought to pay him back for what he'd just done.

"Hey Severus," said Sirius, turning around to see Severus still seething in rage. "Since I'm being honest with you, not necessarily by choice…"

"Hm?" asked Severus, not looking him.

"If you want to know a secret, go to the Whomping Willow next full moon, and hit the knot at the base," said Sirius. "There's a secret tunnel under it. Follow it. Trust me." Sirius left Severus once he'd said this, a huge smile on his face. That should get him off our back.

A few hours later, Sirius was still thinking about what he'd told Severus, and kept having a horrible nagging feeling about what he'd said. That was when he remembered: they hadn't had Remus be around people yet since they'd learned how to become animagi. Severus could be in serious trouble. 'It's okay, I just have to tell him before the next full mo…' Sirius looked out the window, and felt his heart suddenly sink. 'Oh crap…that's TONIGHT!' Without waiting another second, Sirius grabbed his stuff and looked for James.

James was just getting ready for bed, since it was Peter's turn to keep Remus company. The group had agreed they didn't all need to accompany Remus every time. It also gave them a break from working on the map.

James had just pulled back the covers when Sirius burst into the room. "I screwed up big time," he said, looking very panicked.

"What did you do, get your Charms and Transfiguration homework mixed up and hand them to the wrong teachers?" asked James jokingly. When Sirius's expression didn't change, James suddenly got serious. "Okay, how badly did you screw up?"

"I…kinda…mighta…told Severus about the tunnel under the Whomping Willow," said Sirius, looking more than a little sheepish about what he'd just said. "And how to get into it."

James stared at him in complete shock. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU TELL HIM THAT?!" yelled James. "Do you have ANY idea how…"

"I KNOW HOW STUPID THAT WAS!" yelled Sirius. "Why the hell do you think I'm confessing? There was a bunch of things happening, and I was angry, and…"

"Look, it doesn't matter," said James, grabbing his Invisibility Cloak. "We need to get there now, and hope he hasn't seen anything."

The two approached the knot for the Whomping Willow, keeping an eye out for any sign of Severus. "Haven't seen any footprints or anything," said Sirius. "Maybe he's not here ye…"

"Look," said James, pointing at one of the branches. "I don't think those were broken last time we were here. It looks like that happened recently."

"…uh oh," said Sirius, sliding down into the tunnel, followed by James. The two of them hurried along the path, hoping around each bend or over each rise they'd see Severus, getting more and more worried as they got closer and closer to the Shack.

Soon they reached the end of the tunnel, and there was still no sign of Severus anywhere. "Please tell me he wasn't stupid enough to actually go into the Shrieking Shack…" Almost as if to answer, there was a loud scream from above them.

"I think he was," said Sirius, suddenly terrified. "He's screwed, there's no way…" Before he could finish, James suddenly burst through the trapdoor into the Shack. "What are you doing? You're gonna get yourself killed."

James took one look around the scene. The living room was trashed, and backed into a corner was Severus. His wand lying in the middle of the room, and Remus had him backed into a corner. However, when he heard someone come into the room, Remus spun around and gave a low growl. Remus made a leap at him, and James pulled out his wand. "FLIPENDO!" he yelled, catching the wolf in mid-flight and sending him into the opposite wall. "Get out of there, come on." Severus didn't need to be told twice, grabbing his wand and practically diving into the hole, James right on his tail as Sirius closed it behind them.

"What…" wheezed Severus. "What the hell? Remus, he…he changed…he's a…"

"Yeah, yeah, we know," said James. "And now you do too. And you're not gonna say anything about it, are you?"

"Are you kidding me?" demanded Severus. "I was nearly KILLED by that thing, and you want me to NOT tell people?"

"You do realise Dumbledore approved this, right?" asked James. "I mean, maybe not us knowing about it. But he had to acquire the Whomping Willow, create the tunnel, seal off the Shrieking Shack. Do you really think someone like Dumbledore would allow someone like Remus in if he didn't think figure out a way to make it safe to do so?"

Severus glared at him, but seemed to concede the point. "Okay, say I do keep it secret," said Severus. "What's in it for me?"

"We won't hex you into next week is wha…" started Sirius, when James cut him off.

"Severus, we both know Remus is the last person who would do anything to you," said James. "Granted, he never tries to stop anything happening to you, but that's a different matter. Do you really want to ruin his life by revealing this to the school?"

Severus continued giving them a stern look, before letting out a heavy sigh. "Fine, whatever," he said. "I'm not doing this for you though, I'm doing this for Remus. But he'd better not do anything, and I mean ANYTHING, or else…" Severus spun around and left before he could finish his threat.

"Well, at least that's over with," said Sirius. "Let's head back to…"

"Sirius," said James. "We have to talk."

"You know, we can talk when we get back to…" started Sirius.

"No. Now," said James, in a voice that made it clear that there was to be no argument.

"It's about what just happened, isn't it?" asked Sirius, trying to keep the mood light.

"Of course it is," said James. "What the hell were you thinking? I hate Severus as much as the next guy, maybe more, but not so much that I want to kill him. And that's what could have happened tonight."

"Yeah, I know," said Sirius. "It's just…he kind of ambushed me this afternoon, and he was questioning me about Lily, and he used a truth serum on me, and…"

"Wait, he used a truth serum on you?" asked James. "So that's why you told him about all this is it?" Sirius was suddenly quiet. "Sirius, tell me that he made you tell him about this because of the truth serum."

"I…might have been trying to get back at him for what he did to me," said Sirius.

"With THIS?!" yelled James. "Come on Sirius, you could have told us he'd ambushed you. We'd have helped you out when we got him back."

"Yeah, I know," said Sirius. "It's just…I was angry. I felt like I had to get back at him then and there. There was nothing else to it."

"And that makes it okay?" demanded James.

"Of course not," said Sirius. "Look, I'm sorry. I screwed up. I screwed up big time, and not even at my own expense, and I'll confess everything to Remus tomorrow. Just…forgive me, please."

James continued to give him a hard stare. "I'll think about it," said James, turning to follow where Severus had just gone.

"Okay, for how long?" asked Sirius, but James didn't turn back. "James? JAMES?" Sirius sat down in the darkness of the cave, holding his head in his hands. "Good going Sirius, you really did it this time," he said, not making any effort to leave this spot.