Chapter 8: Whomping Willow Rumble

The sky was overcast that Saturday night of November 2nd – All Soul's Day – as Remus Lupin strode out across the castle grounds alone.

Or what the outside observer would have thought was alone. He could see the Whomping Willow, swaying listlessly in the light breeze, just over the slope of a grassy knoll.

A snapping noise was heard behind him, like someone had stepped on a tree branch, and Remus had to refrain from rolling his eyes. He was almost tempted to turn around and tell them to pipe down. He could detect the slight rustling of fabric, followed by a grunt, and now let out a sigh.

Halfway up the sloped knoll, so as to leave a safe distance between themselves and the volatile tree, Remus turned around expectantly. Another rustling of fabric, and he could now make out the darkened silhouettes of James, Sirius and Peter. One of the forms stretched out its back and swore fluently.

"We're gonna need a bigger cloak."

"You're out of luck there, Prongs," Sirius patted his shoulders. "Invisibility Cloaks are extremely rare. You know that."

Now Remus did roll his eyes. His affectionate nickname of Moony – given to him by James once his friends had worked out the truth about him – was something he tolerated. But now his mates had to go around and grant nicknames to each other. There was something so silly and juvenile about it…. even as, Remus knew, he would eventually get roped in on the fun anyway. James was 'Prongs', Sirius was 'Padfoot' and Peter was 'Wormtail.'

Sirius now glanced at the sky nervously. "Those clouds could shift at any moment. We'd better be good and transformed before Moony starts to. How is this supposed to work exactly?"

"According to the book, after the first transformation induced by the Animagus potion, we should now be able to transform into our animal at will," James explained, almost like a recitation.

Peter looked perplexed. "How do we do that?"

"You think about being a dog, or a rat, or a stag, whatever the case may be. Think about being your animal, yearn for it, and…. it should happen."

"It seems so simple," Peter sounded audibly relieved.

"It seems like bullshit," Sirius snorted.

"Look, I read it in the book, all right? That's what it said!" James snapped, impatience creeping into his tone. "Now let's hurry up and think lovely thoughts about being an animal!"

"Right, sure," Sirius grumbled, closing his eyes. "I'll just think about lovely T-Bone steaks and chasing my own arse…"

"Whatever floats your boat," James sighed.

Remus's three friends stood in a sort of triangle and closed their eyes, Remus watching warily, all the while keeping one eye out for the clouds to part.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then –

"Guys?"

As Remus watched in amazement, the shapes of his friends began shifting. James was expanding, Sirius and Peter were shrinking, the latter faster than the former. There was a tearing sound as James' expansion of his chest ripped his shirt asunder; as his legs were growing spindly, his pants were spared the same fate, instead hanging loosely about him.

By now, both James and Sirius were doubled over on all fours. Peter was nowhere to be seen, as in his place was a pile of clothes.

Finally, the transformations were complete. It couldn't have taken more than a minute. James' trousers pooled on the grass as his hooves stepped out of them. Sirius's robes slipped off his dark and silky back.

Remus observed his mates, stunned. He half-expected them to start talking like in those Muggle Disney movies.

"James?"

To his delight, James's proud head swiveled in his direction, snorting. Then the stag glanced down at his completely ruined shirt and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Sirius started barking jovially, joining in the mirth.

There was a squeaking sound, and Remus turned almost casually to see Peter perched on his shoulder.

A moment later, the clouds parted to reveal the full moon. As soon as he was in its gaze, Remus began to feel the hair sprouting on him, and he doubled over, dislodging Peter from his shoulder. Just before his vision shifted (wolves see differently than humans do), Remus observed his three friends backing away slowly, giving him room.

Like James' shirt, Remus's entire outfit became hopelessly torn. Soon he too was on all fours, roaring and bellowing at the stag and large dog standing before him.

To their credit, neither James nor Sirius showed any fear. They rushed the werewolf, bashing into him and nudging him, trying to keep him under control. Now possessed with the mind of a wolf, Remus lashed out at first, but these creatures danced away, manipulating him in the direction of the Whomping Willow – which now froze abruptly. Peter had managed to duck under the branches and press the secret knot.

Remus wasn't sure what it was, but something told him that these animals were here to help him, not to attack him. His violent movements eventually began to calm, as the others herded him down into a passageway under the Willow's trunk and guided him through it until they reached a room just big enough for them all to fit. The Shrieking Shack.

The werewolf and three Animagi stood at opposite ends of the room, regarding each other. Sirius kept up with his growling, sharp and pointy teeth bared, but made no moves to antagonize the large werewolf beast. Aside from this, the quartet sat hidden underground in silent companionship.

By the middle of the night, Sirius the dog was pacing, starting to get bored. He barked insistently at James, then pranced over to the door of the Shrieking Shack, scratching at it and whining. He wanted to go out, and bring all his friends with him. Dashing to the window, he leaned up against it, and barked at the village lights of Hogsmeade in the distance. The village would be deserted at this late hour; the group could go exploring! James snorted in agreement, and nudging Remus, he compelled him to follow them back out into the tunnel. As the Marauders got under the base of the trunk, however, James the stag paused, ears swishing and cocked, as he thought he heard voices.

Hallooo….. what's this?

Earlier that night, Severus had sequestered himself in his four-poster in the Slytherin Common Room, trying to study…. and also not think about the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament that was only a few weeks away. Neither Dumbledore nor any of the other leaders from the other schools had given any indication as to what this task would involve, which was leaving Severus more and more unnerved. He never liked going into a situation blind or unprepared; forced out of his comfort zone, he would get walloped for sure.

Raucous laughter could be heard suddenly, and then the curtains to his bed were being thrown back, to reveal Mulciber and Avery grinning like loons.

"Oi, Snape! What are you doing studying for? Come on, up, up! We're taking you out!"

Severus frowned, remembering his role as a Prefect, and that he was therefore duty-bound to discourage any sort of rule breaking, like being out of bed at night. "We're not supposed to leave the Common Room after curfew."

"Oh, piss off!" Avery waved away. "I'm Head Boy; I can cover us! Besides, don't you want to have a bit of fun, Mr. Triwizard Champion? You may never get another chance."

Severus thought for a moment. Appealing to his level of stress as Avery was, he had to admit the thought of cutting loose, if only for one night, was quite tempting. So he got out:

"What did you have in mind?"

In response, Mulciber happily noogied him. "That's the spirit! We'll give you a good time, boy! Come on!"

The three slipped out of the Slytherin Common Room, stealing up the staircases and ducking down the halls. Severus didn't know what Mulciber and Avery were planning, but they seemed to be looking for something. Just beyond the library, Mulciber raised a hand to halt the others, peering around a corner.

"Look what we've got here, mates!"

Severus followed his gaze. A female student – in the dimly lit corridor, he couldn't tell who it was, much less what House she was from – was just leaving the library.

Stifling giggles, Mulciber dashed, silent as a mouse, down the corridor, up behind the female. Sensing someone, she was just turning around, but Mulciber raised his wand faster.

"Petrificus Totalus."

The female keeled over, stiff as a board. Tapping his shoulder, Avery squirmed around the corner and Severus followed him, his heart dropping into his stomach. Something about this wasn't right….

It got worse once the three boys maneuvered their victim under the torchlight. Severus's skin crawled: it was Mary MacDonald, mouth frozen open mid-gasp or mid-scream but no sound coming out.

"Silencio," Avery cast.

Mulciber followed this with "Levicorpus," floating Mary's body a few feet off the floor.

"Head for the grounds," Avery hissed in Severus's ear. "Cast Concealing Charms as you go along."

For just a moment, Severus entertained what might happen if he refused. Whatever Avery and Mulciber were playing at, it was in no way above-board. He might be a Prefect, but Avery was Head Boy; even if he tried to dock house points, Avery could just as easily run to Slughorn and pin the blame for…. whatever-this-was on Severus.

So Severus felt trapped enough that he advanced through the halls and out of the castle, casting expert and comprehensive Concealing Charms all the while. Behind him, he could hear Avery and Mulciber muttering to themselves:

"I'd feel better if we had Potter's Invisibility Cloak."

"James Potter has an Invisibility Cloak?! Bugger! You should have told me; we could have nicked it!"

"Ah, well – we'll still have our fun with this one!"

The three Slytherins and their prisoner went out into the night, a full moon the only thing illuminating them, and bearing witness to their chicanery. Severus's heart was pounding in fear, both for himself and for poor Mary, guilty of nothing except being caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had been paying better attention, he might have noticed that the Whomping Willow, under which they were now slowing to a halt, was conspicuously and mysteriously still.

Mulciber released the Levicorpus spell, sending Mary sprawling onto the cool grass, flat on her back. Waving another complicated charm, Severus watched in horror as Avery then vanished all of Mary's clothes. By the light of the full moon, all of her womanly curves could be seen, and still Mary couldn't move, though a large tear was noticeably dripping down from her one eye.

Severus turned and vomited into the dirt.

"Never had a Mudblood before. Let's see if her pussy is good and tight like pure witches," Avery jeered.

"Must be, mate. This whore looks virgin," Mulciber chortled. "And speaking of virgins…." He turned to Severus. "Have a crack at her, champion."

Severus froze in horror. He had absolutely no idea what to do. He had the faintest suspicion that this was more than just two classmates arranging for him a fuck. This was a test – and Severus wasn't sure he wanted to take it, and still less sure if he wanted to pass it, or would. Locking gazes with Mary, he could see that under Petrificus Totalus, she still couldn't move…. but he eyes could. They were darting around, before fixing on him, imploring.

Severus….. please…..

Severus gulped, trying to silently communicate everything with his own irises. If he did go through with it, he knew one thing: Lily would never, ever forgive him. He couldn't bear that.

And so, with great courage, he managed to rasp out, "No."

Mulciber cocked a startled eyebrow. "No?" His timbre was cold, and Severus willed himself not to flinch, his muscles clamping to brace himself for a curse in his direction. The Imperius Curse came to mind, and though it was an Unforgivable and forbidden from being cast by a student, he had a feeling Mulciber would not be above casting it on anyone and coercing him into rape.

Mulciber, however, made no moves to jinx him. Instead, he sighed. "Fine, I'll go first, anyway," and began unzipping his pants….

There was a sudden blur as something large and furry missed Severus by inches. Next moment, the full moon's light caught Mulciber flying backward, an almost bizzare grace to his movement, like a trapeze artist coming off the high bar. This abruptly ended when Mulciber reached the earth, crashing into the ground in a heap, gawping and spluttering as a huge and dark shape loomed up before him, rearing back on hind legs and bellowing.

"Stupe…." Mulciber didn't finish the Stunning Spell before the large thing's hooves slammed back down onto the ground, landing right on his wand. There was a CRACK, followed by another one, louder and deeper, and Severus heard Mulciber scream.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Mulciber, terrified as a piglet, was scrabbling back away from the creature on all fours, holding a bleeding hand against his robes, a stick hung together only by splinters gripped in his free palm.

Avery, meanwhile, seemed frozen in indecision, while he and Severus observed, open-mouthed, as the…. stag continued to advance on Mulciber, stooping its head and nudging him with his antlers so powerfully that the Slytherin student started to roll down the grassy knoll. Coming out of the daze, Avery turned back to Mary's naked form and began to advance on it.

In the same instant, another blur shot by Severus, this time partially knocking into him just enough so that he fell back into the dirt, the wind knocked out of him. He lifted his head when he heard Avery scream.

A large black dog was literally mauling his classmate, Avery thrashing to get away. Getting a grip on his wand, Avery bellowed, "Depulso!"

The flash of blue light lifted the dog off its feet with a yelp; it went sailing into the Whomping Willow…. and landed right on the secret knot that Severus knew could freeze the tree.

And also, as it now became painfully clear, unfreeze it.

The large back dog was now struggling to its feet, whimpering, looking up to the heavens at the sound of rustling as the tree above them began to come to life. In the moonlight, Severus could have sworn the damn mangy mutt upturned his lips into a smug smirk.

Oops.

A thundering of hooves made Severus glance back; the large and proud stag was now charging its way back up the grassy knoll as the tree went on the attack. Injured but still mobile, Avery actually started to move again towards Mary, attempting to still claim his conquest. Rolling away from a swiping branch, Severus leapt to his feet and bullrushed into Avery, knocking him to the ground.

"I'll bloody kill you for this, Snape!" The evil Slytherin bucked Severus off him. Then, with another CRACK, Severus felt something break, and he howled.

Suddenly, everything halted at the sound of an ear-splitting roar. Severus watched as Avery, gobsmacked, staggered back away from him, the tosser's face as translucent as the full moon above them.

"Whoa!... What the…..?!"

Turning his head, Severus's blood ran cold as he watched the monstrous werewolf plant its feet and bellow a roar in Avery's direction. Severus could see spittle flying from the beast's snapping jaws. Remembering the last time he was caught under this tree, Severus realized, and he was almost relieved: Remus…..

Avery didn't even try to fire off a curse. He turned and ran for his life. "Help! Wild werewolf! Get me out of here! I swear, I'll never eat another turkey burger again!"

A shadow cast over the group and Severus threw out a warning. "Watch out!"

The werewolf turned towards the branch sweeping towards him and actually caught it. Then, with jaw-dropping strength, he ripped it from the Willow's trunk. The leaves of the tree shook as if it was giving a thunderous roar of its own. Still sprawled at their feet, a naked Mary was still frozen, but watching everything in stunned amazement.

At that moment, the werewolf and the large black dog locked eyes. They seemed to communicate with no words. Then, to Severus's astonishment, the werewolf stooped, scooped up Mary into a bridal carry and thundered away on its hind legs, the black dog pelting by its side on all fours.

Severus tried to stand, and then whimpered: the leg he had broken in the last Whomping Willow incident, and had just been starting to heal, was fractured again. He grunted as he suddenly felt a powerful branch from the Willow connect with his back, pitching him forward partway down the hill but still not entirely out of range from the out-of-control tree. Groaning, he tried to lift himself up off the ground, just enough so that he could see the stag thundering away in the direction of the castle. The powerful deer glanced back, meeting his eyes. It seemed to hesitate, just for a second, before suddenly reversing course, galloping back, and with its snout, literally tossing Severus into the air.

He landed nearly halfway off its back, in danger of falling off. Severus felt the stag's snout nudge him again, adjusting him so that rider was fully across his mount. Twisting his fingers into the stag's fur, Severus looked around him, dazed at where he had ended up. He let out a whoop, then dug his heels into the stag's side, urging him on towards the castle.

Severus wasn't sure, but the stag's answering snort sounded almost like a laugh….

Lily Evans was woken rudely out of bed by a startled and shaken Professor McGonagall, asking her to come with her down to the Hospital Wing quickly – something had happened to Mary. White-faced and sick, Lily raced down to see her best girlfriend, her stomach churning all the worst when she burst into the ward to find Mary pulling on clothes…. and a banged-up Severus Snape in the bed beside hers. In one corner, Dumbledore and Horace Slughorn were talking severely to two other Slytherin students; Lily only recognized one of them – Avery, the seventh-year Slytherin Head Boy.

"I have half a mind to expel the both of you this instant…..!" Dumbledore's voice was a deadly, shaking whisper. Lily had never heard or seen him so angry.

"Lily!" Mary's voice was a sob as she reached to embrace her.

"Mary!" Lily hugged her tightly, choking up. Looking over her shoulder, she beheld Severus. "Sev, what happened to you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Yeah? Try me," Lily frowned.

And she listened, bewildered, as Mary and Severus told her everything: how he had been roped by Avery and Mulciber into abducting Mary and taking her out to the shadow of the Whomping Willow, where Severus had been almost pressured into raping her, and where Mulciber tried to. How a giant werewolf had helped to save Mary's life by attacking both of Severus's evil classmates, and carry her to safety, and how, apparently, the werewolf had had help…. from a stag and a mauling, black dog. Not sure what to make of what at first blush sounded like quite the tall tale, Lily glanced back to where Dumbledore was still shouting at Mulciber and Avery. There were bloody gashes, slices on the side of Avery's face, giving off the appearance that he certainly looked like a dog had mauled him. As for Mulciber, who to Lily's satisfaction was visibly trembling, there was large indentation on his temple, shaped like a hoofprint, almost as if he had been nearly trampled underfoot. A weird Muggle Christmas carol came to mind, and Lily almost wanted to laugh: Grandma got run over by a reindeer….

McGonagall now appeared beside the Slytherin boy and two Gryffindor girls. "Now, Miss MacDonald, are you sure Severus did nothing to you untoward?"

"No, Professor. He…. he tried to help protect me. He tackled Avery at one point." Turning her head, Mary smiled weakly, gratefully, at Severus. Severus just turned into himself, bashful but also profoundly guilty. Neither he nor Mary should ever have been out there in the first place; he'd probably still get points docked from Slytherin, all heroics aside…. and he was a Prefect! What kind of example did that set?

Slughorn could now be seen frog-marching Avery and Mulciber out of the Hospital Wing. A weary Dumbledore floated over to Severus's bedside.

"And what did you say happened to these…. animals you say you saw?"

"I told you, Headmaster – the werewolf dropped me off at the doors of the castle, and his dog friend stayed with me and kept me warm until he heard feet approaching. Then the dog cleared out too. Severus says he rode the stag back to the gates and arrived about a minute after me…."

"…. Then the deer also fled," Severus finished.

Dumbledore leaned back, a strange twinkle in his eye. McGonagall looked skeptical.

"Albus, you don't really believe in this wacky…. Aesop's Fable, do you….?"

"Aesop's what?" Severus frowned. He stilled when Lily laid a gentle hand on his arm.

"I'll explain," his best friend whispered with a smile.

"It does seem a bit far-fetched, Minerva…. though I daresay, I'm intrigued by the injuries found on both Mr. Mulciber and Mr. Avery. And Severus and Mary both seem to corroborate their stories. We'll search the grounds, see if these beasts turn up. Mr. Snape – for being caught out of bed…. ten points from Slytherin."

Severus's jaw dropped. He had been a material witness to an almost rape, assaulted one of his own housemates to try and stop it, and all Dumbledore thought to mete out as punishment was a slap on the wrist little more severe than a speeding ticket. "Miss MacDonald, now that you're dressed, and if Poppy deems you have no injuries, you may return to your dormitory."

"Yes, Headmaster," Mary scrambled out of the bed, pausing when Lily nodded to her to proceed on ahead into the hall.

"I'll catch up."

Mary nodded back, flashed Severus a grateful smile, then departed, along with Dumbledore and McGonagall. Once they were alone, Lily turned back to Severus, smiling gently.

"You saved her life…."

Severus blushed. "It wasn't just me…" Snapping his head up, he demanded, "You believe me, don't you?"

"Of course I believe you," she almost crooned, sitting down on the edge of the bed and brushing his black bangs almost…. tenderly out of his eyes. "Mary's a very practical girl, she wouldn't go and just make up a story like that…"

Severus's face dipped into a frown. "So you believe me because you believe Mary first? Great."

"Not what I meant!" Lily shook her head with a slight laugh. Gazing at him softly, Lily murmured. "You're a good man, Severus Snape."

Cupping his cheek, Severus felt his heart race as Lily leaned over him in the bed…

She tilted her head at the last moment and kissed him warmly on the cheek, just missing the corner of his mouth. Rising slowly, she walked for the door, turning back to give him a parting wave.

"Good night," she whispered.

Severus found himself staring after her long after the Hospital Wing doors had closed.