Hiya, gang!
Thanks so much for all the support last chapter. It was difficult to write that last author's note, but I felt it was necessary to help you all understand the mindset Severus was in is in fact a very natural one for many survivors of abuse. You were all very respectful and kind. You guys are so sweet.
Not much to say before this chapter, but heads up, here comes drama.
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter Sixty-Seven: Breaking Bathrooms
Severus's return to his daily school life was a dreary one. He tried to focus on schoolwork and just navigating the tumultuous time that was being a teenager, but he couldn't stop picturing the smoky crater where his house once stood.
It was honestly never a place he called home; recognizing from his time spent with Lily as a child that 'home' was reserved for a place filled with love and warmth, safety and comfort. Even calling it a dwelling would be giving it too much credit, the term usually used regarding places of peaceful, stable existence, if not outright contentment. 'House' was the best he could call the place he grew up, as that's truly all it was; just four walls and a roof, barely held together by nails, held together even less by familiar affection.
He lost essentially nothing in the fire, having owned very little in the way of earthly possessions before coming to live with Lily's family. In fact, his belongings were so few in number that the small handful of new shirts and pants Willow bought him the first week there actually tripled his wardrobe size.
He'd never told Lily this, but much of the clothes he wore as he got taller were actually his mum's, Tobias being too thick and meaty to fit anything his son fit into. Eileen did her model best to lend Severus the plainest, most non-gendered button-ups she had, but there were subtle indications that they were women's clothes. Things like the buttons going up the wrong side, things like the pockets being decorative instead of functioning. Lily never took notice, but Severus always felt embarrassed dressing in such obviously feminine hand-me downs.
Whatever furniture he'd owned was lost in the fire, a loss Severus hardly felt given how rickety and worthless the collective lot had been to him over the years. He could recall many a splintered finger from his desk and chair, achy joints and a sore back from his poorly contrasted bed frame and it's lumpy, nearly flat mattress. Most of his items were swiped from church tag sales when Tobias was feeling just generous enough to allow Severus an actual bed to sleep in but not generous enough he'd actually pay for it. Severus doubted he'd even miss such poorly assembled junk.
He did mourn the loss of his mother's things. Not knowing what Eileen brought with her to the Women's home or just how much she was allowed in such a cramped place, Severus could only assume most of her things were left behind. Severus felt saddened more by his own loss of those items than for his mother's loss of them. They had been his only connection to his magical heritage for the first ten years of his life, dusty tomes of spells and grimy potions equipment that he clung to with such yearning for a better life away from such simplicity and squalor.
He recalled many lonely afternoons and evenings spent crouched up in the muggy, hot attic pouring over his mother's old textbooks, playing with her Gobstones set and chocolate frog cards, things far too whimsy and silly for the grim-faced woman he knew. Those tattered, old remnants of his mother's previous life were the only thing that kept him truly sane growing up among the riff raff of Spinner's End.
Well, that and Lily, that is.
Still, it was a shame so much of his mother's own history was wiped out in a single night. Disowned by her own parents, it was doubtful Eileen could ever hope to recover the things she lost or find replacements for possessions so sentimental. Tobias took away so much of what made Eileen a witch when they married. Now, his house had claimed the rest of it in a fiery blaze.
Thankfully his mother was at least safe behind strong wards in the Longbottom manor, though she'd have to put up with the likes of Augusta Longbottom. In the letters Frank sent Severus after the fire, he assured Severus that Eileen was settling in wonderfully, having been warmly welcomed and attended to in every way.
Frank did express concerns about Eileen's memory, as Eileen occasionally seemed to come under the impression she was in her childhood home and would question where her mother's garden had gone. Other times she would speak fondly of her husband as though he were still alive, telling those who would listen that they simply must meet him when he arrived.
Severus had impressed upon Frank the delicate nature of his mother's mindset since Tobias was murdered. Already a stubborn woman prior to her husband's passing, Eileen wasn't very likely to openly admit her marriage had been a mistake. Losing Tobias before she could ever divorce him or stand up for herself left her lacking closure, so she wasn't entirely willing to accept he was gone.
Frank promised his family would tread lightly on the subject, though Severus was skeptical as Augusta Longbottom tread about as lightly around controversial conversation as an Erumpent in cement shoes. Severus could only hope her blunt nature would do his mother more good than bad, perhaps finally shake her from her self-imposed stupor to accept that Tobias was never the man she wanted him to be and better off dead.
Severus thought of his mother sitting in Longbottom manor, surrounded by people and yet feeling alone in ways others couldn't understand. He pictured her glazed over expression as she stared off into the distance, imagining a fairy tale romance and married life that never truly existed for her, eyes unseeing and lost.
Much like the lost, empty gaze of another woman Severus knew.
Severus shook his head, trying to dispel the image of Gwen's body from his mind.
They'd never been particularly friends, the age gap just high enough that friendship seemed awkward, but cordial acquaintance they were well enough. Severus respected Gwen's drive and desire to make it on her own, gleaming that her destitution was the result of fleeing a man much like Severus's father.
While not thinking poorly of prostitutes as she sympathized with their plight, Gwen steadfast refused to sell herself to make ends meet. She once confided in Severus that the decision stemmed from the fact that too much of society viewed prostitutes with contempt and poorly concealed judgment. She said she realized this after having noticed storeowners turn away known street workers more often than they turned away beggars, the shop owners claiming 'dirty money' was no good in their establishments. She stood a better chance of survival begging because at least then she knew people would actually accept her money in exchange for basic essentials she needed to get by.
Gwen must have been beautiful in her youth, Severus could tell. With bright, almond shaped eyes and voluminous hair, she was probably a stunner when she was eighteen, though the hardships of life on the street aged her dramatically well before she was out of her twenties. A straight smile replaced by chipped, yellowing teeth, skin worn and cracked like dried out leather. Pianist fingers became gnarled and knobby from carpal tunnel and meticulous labor to construct the various wares she sold.
Severus meant it when he said he wasn't surprised that Gwen chose to end her life. As happy a façade as she tried to maintain, no one was made of stone. There was no way Gwen wasn't bothered by the life she was forced to live, by the clawing cold and aching hunger. Staying up each night to protect herself from men with ill intent searching for vulnerable, sleeping homeless, it must have taken quite the toll on Gwen over the years. Each and every time a full shelter turned her away and a church closed its doors to her—even in a blizzard, for Merlin's sake—she must have been painfully reminded just how cruel humanity can be as it toted a mindset that ruefully cried 'I help those who help themselves'.
This world had little pity or mercy for those who truly struggled. Gwen must have grown tired of it all. Severus couldn't blame her.
Severus thought back to those first few days after Lily ended their friendship. He recalled how devastated he felt, how agonized. The mere thought of returning to Spinners End without Lily's sweet smile as a reprieve washed him in cold dread.
He'd considered it then, if for only a moment. He'd considered how easy it would be to just turn his wand on himself…maybe swallow a potion and slip off to sleep for good. The very thought of Lily leaving his life honestly felt like being robbed of all that made life worth living, as he had no one else. It would have been all so easy. But in the end…he couldn't do it. Call it cowardice, or maybe pure rationale, but he couldn't bring himself to end it all. Perhaps he was saved by his own stubborn need to survive even when he wasn't wanted.
He briefly wondered where Gwen would be buried. Lacking a loving family, the town would be left to handle her remains, but it was doubtful they'd waste much funding on a funeral or even a proper headstone.
Severus pushed it from his mind; Gwen didn't leave this world wanting people to feel sorry for her. She'd be mad if she thought Severus was wasting his time grieving her, bothered that she caused him pain.
He understood her reasoning, and though he didn't agree, it was too late to hold it against her when she was long gone.
"Sev," Mary called, drawing Severus from his musings, "Potions is over."
She stood next to his and Lily's table, waiting patiently for him to pack up his things.
Severus nodded distractedly, feigning Mary's sake, "Right. Sort of zoned out for a minute there."
"Thinking about your mum?" Mary asked sympathetically, a frown creasing her lips.
"Yeah," Severus said; it was partially true anyway, "Just hoping she's doing well."
"Frank and Alice will be there often to look after her, Severus," Lily jumped in, helping Severus put away his potions equipment before Mary could offer to do so; she'd been jumping to help him an awful lot lately, "You know how lovely they are, they'll make her feel right at home."
Severus stood up, bringing his vial of completed work to Slughorn's desk.
"It's more her mental state that worries me," Severus said when he returned to his desk, "You both saw the last letter Frank sent. She had a bad dream and wandered the hall, looking for her mum. That's not normal."
"She must miss her parents an awful lot," Mary said pityingly as they entered the hallway, "Maybe what she really needs is help from them."
Severus shook his head, "She was disowned, remember? Her family was against her marrying a muggle."
"Well that muggle's dead now," Lily pointed out, "Maybe the disownment only applied to the actual time they were married."
"Doubtful," Severus dismissed, "Blood purity disputes rarely have such technicalities. If someone turns against family tradition; they're out for good. Beside, I'm not sure how null and void my grandparents would consider the marriage when it produced me. I'm pretty permanent a result of that union."
"Still, it couldn't hurt to look into," Mary joined in, "It must be awful to be banished from your own family. After all she's been through, maybe her parents would feel compassionate enough to let her come home."
"You say that as if there's a guarantee any of the Princes are still alive," Severus pointed out, "No one's heard of them in years. From what I understand, they were recluses. You only ever knew they were still around and kicking when a new member of the line enrolled in Hogwarts."
"Besides," Severus went on, "Why would I want my mum to go back to people who would only care about her existence after Tobias is dead. If they couldn't care about mum's well-being while she was married to that rotten bastard, I don't think I'd want them around her at all."
"But perhaps they've changed," Lily suggested, "Or maybe not all her family feels the way her parents did. If we found a more lenient, open minded relative of the Prince line, Eileen could be well cared for."
Severus looked skeptically at Lily, "Don't you think if any such person existed, they'd have contacted me or my mum by now? A few papers have listed my mum's maiden name in some of their articles about me. It's not like they'd have no idea we're alive."
"Just consider it," Lily insisted, "Look, send out a few letters. If any of the Princes still live, an owl will surely find them. Let's see if anyone writes back. What could it hurt?"
"My pride," Severus drawled, "Perhaps my dignity."
Mary giggled.
Lily stared Severus down, her hands on her hips.
Finally, Severus sighed, "Fine. I'll try to contact them. Not like they'll write back anyway."
Lily smiled, seemingly satisfied with his answer.
"On a lighter note," Mary suggested, "Sev, would you like to come with me this weekend to Hogsmeade? Since we couldn't hang out on Monday?"
Severus looked at her, puzzled, "What? What was so special about Monday?"
Mary frowned, a little saddened by Severus's response.
"The day your house burned down…Monday was Valentine's day," she explained, downcast, "You and Lily spent the whole day in Cokeworth, so you missed celebrating the holiday with me."
Lily looked away, the pleased smile fighting to spread across her face going unnoticed by the pair.
"Oh," Severus said, surprised. He honestly hadn't thought much of the date when he woke up that day. The news about his house honestly pushed everything else from his mind. He and Lily essentially spent all of Valentine's day together.
'No wonder Potter's been in a foul mood all week,' he realized. He smirked inwardly.
"That's why I figured we could spend the day together on Saturday," Mary went on, oblivious to how quickly that wiped the smile from Lily's face, "Just the two of us. We can window shop, grab a bite to eat, maybe come back and sit by the lake."
"Uh…" Severus mumbled, at a lost seeing Mary's hopeful expression, "I'm going to be working on the diary more that day since I haven't had time all week."
Mary lowered her eyes in disappointment, "Oh…"
"But," Severus added hurriedly, not wanting to hurt her feelings, "We could hang out maybe late afternoon for a bit…possibly."
He caught the disapproval in Lily's eyes and gave her an exasperated look of his own.
'What would you have me do?' he wanted to say.
"That would be nice," Mary said, perking up instantly, "I can bring us a snack from the kitchen. It'll be like a little picnic."
"Great," Severus said unconvincingly. He was at least thankful Mary wasn't calling it a date, though he knew Mary clearly hoped the time spent together would start to win him over.
Severus resisted a sigh; why were so many things in his life getting so complicated?
{page break}
"Any luck?" Severus asked Nesme and Davis when everyone met back in the bathroom on Saturday.
Nesme grinned, presenting a musty, old folder, "Total success," she declared.
"Well, not a complete success," Davis corrected, taking the folder from Nesme. He turned it on it's side and shook it lightly, prompting several tiny bits of paper to rain out, "Moths got to some of it."
"But we still were able to gleam some information from it," Nesme said, snatching the folder back, "Took a quite a bit of time to find it, but our efforts paid off."
"Let's see it then," Severus said, holding his hand out for the folder.
Placing it down on the rim of a sink—currently one of the only dry surfaces in Myrtle's bathroom—Severus opened it to the first page.
"See there," Nesme pointed, "Hogwarts lists his mother's name as Merope Riddle, nee Gaunt. And the father's name is Tom Riddle Senior."
"Gaunt," Simone mused, "Where have I heard that name before?"
"It does sound vaguely familiar," Thea agreed, "Wasn't there a crazy family that went by that name?"
Simone nodded, recognition lighting up her eyes, "Oh yeah, a whole inbred lot. Madder than hatters. Last I heard they all died out," she looked down at the file, "Turns out one survived."
"As far as we know," Severus pointed out, "We still have no idea if this man is even still alive."
"Anyway," Nesme butted in impatiently, "The trail on the Gaunt family goes cold; nothing we looked up could provide any information on them other than a man named Morfin who died in prison."
"Which makes it surprising that Merope is in this file," Davis added, "Hogwarts itself most likely makes the magical records for students containing their birth parents. But I digress. We did a little research on Tom's father, Tom senior and that actually garnered some interesting results."
Severus raised a brow, "Do tell."
Davis tapped Tom senior's name in the folder, "Well clearly, Riddle isn't a wizard name from what we could find. So we went looking for muggles with that surname and not only did we find a Riddle family with a Tom Senior, but that family is well known for one key reason."
Lily leaned in, intrigued, "What reason is that?"
"Murder," Davis said seriously, "Apparently all three members of the family were found dead in their home in Little Hangleton."
"And that's what Morfin Gaunt was left to rot in Azkaban for!" Nesme jumped in excitedly.
Simone looked to Severus, "Another murder our dear friend Tom has a connection to. This time he's a relative of both the victims and the supposed killer. What do you make of that?"
"I think given Tom's likelihood of having framed Hagrid for murder, he very well could have done the same to Morfin."
Nesme clapped her hands, "That's exactly what I was thinking."
"Tom's looking less and less trustworthy," Mary announced, "Glad he isn't in school with us."
"In a way he is," Severus muttered as Thea pulled out the diary, "That thing is nothing but bad news."
"Any luck with that so far?" Davis asked.
Severus shook his head as he took the diary from Thea, "None whatsoever. It's too risky to ask him about the diadem; if this book is still somehow connected to him we don't need him knowing what we know. When we ask him about himself, he talks quite casually about his school years. His grades and his favorite classes, etc, real mundane things."
"He's clearly trying to paint himself as an upstanding person," Davis surmised.
"Obviously," Severus agreed.
"We decided to ask him about the Chamber of Secrets," Simone revealed, "Said we heard rumors that the murder was connected to that. He told us the Chamber had been opened. Blamed it all on Hagrid."
"While from what I understand," Severus joined in, "The claims about the Chamber were brushed off as a prank to stir up more hysteria. Not even Hagrid believed the Chamber had been opened."
"And yet Riddle is pretty confident it was," Lily summed up nicely, "That's a little telling. I really wish you guys wouldn't talk to that thing though, Sev."
"It was only once or twice," Severus assured her, "Trust me, it wasn't something I wanted to do, but we're out of leads. At least we were, before we got this folder," he gestured to the folder laid out on the sink.
A wet plop sounded over by the doorway, making everyone freeze.
"Did you hear that?" Simone asked warily.
Severus nodded, "Think it means anything?"
"There's no one there," Lily pointed out, "Maybe Myrtle is messing around somewhere. I think we would have seen someone if it were anyone else."
"True," Severus conceded, "Unless they had a certain cloak…"
He glared at the doorway suspiciously.
"Sev?" Lily asked worriedly.
Severus shook his head, "It's nothing, I'm sure. But we can never be too careful. Let's put the file away for now."
Nesme shrunk the folder down and stashed it in her pocket.
"In the meantime, I'm not entirely sure there's much else we can get out of this thing," Severus said, holding up the diary, "Frankly it's too risky to have around at all."
"So what do you propose we do with it?" Simone asked.
"There's one thing we haven't tried," Severus said, drawing his wand, "Destroying it."
Simone raised a brow, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but last thing we tried to destroy couldn't be destroyed."
Severus shrugged, "Still worth a shot."
Level his wand at the diary, Severus took a deep breath, "Incendi—"
"Now!" shouted an unpleasantly familiar voice.
"I knew it!" Severus cried triumphantly, right before a stunner flew past him.
"Fox in the hen house," Simone declared, whipping out her wand. A het of light shot over her shoulder as she dropped low to the ground.
In a matter of seconds the room was awash with an array of colorful flashing lights. Severus and his friends fired off all sorts of spells into every direction, while spells came from an unseen assailant moving rapidly about the room.
"Split up," came Black's voice, just as he seemingly appeared out of thin air.
Severus ducked another stunner, crouching by the sink.
"Find the cloak," he ordered, "The others are under it."
"What cloak?" Simone called, firing hexes from her and Thea's cover behind a stall.
"Potter's got an invisibility cloak!" Severus shouted.
Simone's eyes went wide, "The rotten bugger!" Incensed she cast a strong wind charm, sending everyone's robes whipping around their legs.
Potter and a cowering Pettigrew came into view as the cloak was blown off.
"Found you," Simone crowed victoriously.
James cursed loudly, sending off a round of hexes and jinxes.
"James, are you out of your bloody mind?" Lily questioned, leaning out from her cover to block a stunner aimed at Nesme.
"You'll understand later, Evans," James assured her, slashing his wand at Severus.
Mary waved her wand at Peter, cursing when the timid boy managed to narrowly to jump out of the way.
Black managed to blast off a faucet, sending water flying everywhere.
Outside, the commotion began to draw a crowd. Curious and nosey students stood on tiptoe to peer over each other into the bathroom, none brave enough to enter.
"I'm getting a teacher!" One third year cried, darting off down the hall.
Inside the bathroom, chaos reigned.
A stray spell hit the window, sending shattered glass everywhere.
Davis used a door to block a hex from Sirius, the wood splintering.
"What kind of spells are you using, Black?" he exclaimed.
"He's up to no good, Evans," James shouted over the din, gesturing at Severus, "I don't know what he's been telling you, but he's clearly using you. And his Slytherin pals here are in on it."
"You're daft, Potter," Simone scoffed, "Still painting people with a biased brush." She blocked a spell headed Thea's way and turned fiery eyes on Pettigrew, "How…dare….you."
"It was just a stunner," Peter simpered in fear, "I wasn't trying to hurt her."
"You sneaky little rat," Simone said angrily, "I'll teach you to attack someone when her back is turned!" She waved her wand at the sinks, sending a jet of water shooting at Peter, knocking him down with a yelp.
"Leave him alone," Sirius demanded, "Not his fault you lot are all wrong in the head."
"The only one wrong here is you, Black," Lily yelled, hitting Sirius with a tripping jinx. She immediately ran over to him.
"Incarerous," she chanted, binding Sirius thoroughly.
James looked at Lily in shock and dismay, "Evans, what are you doing?"
"Enough is enough, James," Lily said angrily, "Put your wand down."
James eyed Lily's wand warily.
"I don't want to have to hex you, Evans," he implored.
"Then don't make me fight you," Lily stated, "Drop your wand."
James stared at Lily, conflicted. His wand hand wavered.
That was all the opening Severus needed. He jumped away from the sink, shouting, "Expelliarmus!"
"Hey!" James's wand flew out of his hand.
Severus caught James's wand and glared at the boy, "Call this checkmate, Potter," he spat.
James glowered at Severus. Looking between the Slytherin and Lily, James grit his teeth.
"It's over, Potter," Severus said, "Consider this fight over."
James growled, "It's not over until I say it's over."
James lunged towards Severus, only for a hand to snag his collar and jerk him back.
"Oh, it's over," Remus said humorlessly.
"R-Remus," Peter squeaked, "What are you doing here?"
"A student came and got me," Remus said crossly, "Said that some madmen were tearing apart the Girl's room."
He surveyed the damaged with disapproval, "Seems they weren't kidding."
"Listening, Remus," Sirius said when the binding spell was lifted off him, "We were only trying to—"
"What were you thinking?" Remus cut Sirius off, turning to him, "Sweet Merlin, Sirius, you guys almost destroyed the entire bathroom."
"Hey, they threw some spells too," James defended.
"Yes," Remus said, turning a withering glare on James, "But who fired first?"
James said nothing.
"Thought so," Remus remarked dryly.
"Remus," Sirius tried again, "You've got it all wrong. We were only trying to prevent Snivellous from doing something bad. He's been sneaking around all year, you know, and now he's got this book and—"
"So you've been spying on him?" Remus interjected, "All this time? And after you promised me you were done with this." Spying a parchment roll sticking out of James's pocket, Remus snatched it up.
"I should have known you couldn't resist spying on him," he said despairingly, "You just can't help yourselves can you?"
"Is that a map?" Simone asked disbelievingly.
"That's how he knows where I am all the time?" Severus roared, outraged.
Lily looked equally appalled, "That's a complete invasion of privacy, James!"
"You don't understand," James pleaded to both Lily and Remus.
"No, you don't understand," Remus snapped, "Apparently your word means nothing to you, and the same goes for respecting my wishes."
"Remus," Sirius said feebly, reaching for Remus's shoulder.
Remus shook him off, "No. You don't get it. I told you I wanted this fighting to end. After everything that happened at the end of fifth year, I wanted this all to stop. I'm sick of you two going out of your way to hurt Snape. And I'm sick you expecting me to let you get away with it."
"Well, what's Snape been doing in here so often?" James challenged, "It's the girl's bathroom, isn't. What has he been up to?"
"Visiting Myrtle!" Remus cried, "I introduced them, and Nesme knows her too. They visit her so that she won't be lonely."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Don't tell me you actually believe that crap."
"It doesn't matter what I believe," Remus said hotly, "What matters is what I know and that is this: you don't care what I say, you don't care what I think, and you don't care how I feel."
Sirius reached for Remus again, "…Moony, that's not true…"
Remus batted his hands away, "But it is. I'm sick of making excuses for you. I knew I was crazy to forgive you after the Whomping Willow, but I did. Now you're right back to messing with Snape as though that whole incident never happened and I realize you clearly don't take what almost happened seriously."
"Of course I do," Sirius insisted.
"No you don't" Remus shouted, "Do you have any idea how that made me feel? How sick to my stomach I was to think what I could have done? You nearly made me do the one thing I would never wish upon anyone and even that isn't enough to make you realize you've taken this stupid rivalry too far. I mean, you still call it a prank gone too far. A prank! Since when was gambling with people's lives funny?!"
"That's not what I meant by it," Sirius denied.
Remus held up a hand, "Don't. Just don't. I'm tired of your excuses."
He sighed, "It was stupid of me to think I could trust you after that. And yet I did, and here I am, hurt, but somehow completely unsurprised."
"Moony," Sirius said.
"I'm done," Remus announced, his eyes swimming with tears, "I've tried for so long to rationalize your behavior, come up with a reason it isn't as bad as it seems. Why I ever thought things would be different after the Whomping Willow, I don't know."
Sirius looked at Remus in broken shock.
Severus stared at the scene unfolding before him uncomfortably. It was…strange to watch a friendship fall apart from the outside perspective. It should have caused him nothing but satisfaction to see the Marauders disbanded, but instead it was a hollow victory. Perhaps he pictured it involving a lot more yelling and less of Lupin looking so miserably small.
"I think we've seen enough," Simone whispered to the others, "Let's just get our things and go. The professors can talk to us about our side of this fight later."
"It was self-defense, anyway," Thea added, casting a worried, unsure look at Remus, before gathering her things, "They can't really hold that against us…wait, where's the diary—hey!"
Peter kneeled in the corner with the diary in his hands. At Thea's exclamation, he slammed the book shut in alarm, looking at the Slytherin girl with wide, fearful eyes.
"Give me that," Thea cried defensively, snatching the book from his hands, "It's very rude to look through other people's things."
'I wasn't reading it," Peter defended weakly, hands raised in placation, "It was already open on the floor…I didn't want it to get wet." He gestured to the rapidly growing puddle of water around them all.
"Trying to save the enemy's property? Perhaps I hit him with that water jet too hard," Simone muttered out the side of her mouth. Sparing Peter one final glare, she ushered Thea away.
"I wasn't stealing it," Peter called out lamely, "Honest…"
"Sev," Mary called out, "Lily, are you two coming?"
"Yeah," Lily replied hesitantly glancing between Remus and his friends in concern, "I'll go report to a professor what happened." She cast a wary glance at Remus as she left.
Severus stood there a moment longer, watching the silent standoff between the four Marauders, a teary-eyed Remus on one side, and a very sad Sirius, remorseful James, and a worried Pettigrew on the other.
Saying nothing, Severus placed James's wand on the sink and walked out of the bathroom, unable to shake the sinking feeling in his stomach.
We all knew this fallout was coming, right? I mean, they've been sneaking around Remus back this whole time to try and get Severus.
I wanted to really express the bottle up betrayal I imagine Remus is probably still feeling over the shrieking shack incident. Sure, in canon he forgave Sirius, but how much of that was real forgiveness and how much of it was him caving out of loneliness and preferring to have a shitty friend over no friend? Sirius referred to the event as a prank well into adulthood, demonstrating his own lack of ability to grasp just how much he endangered Remus and betrayed him by using his condition as a joke. Remus greatest fear (aside from the moon) is subjecting someone else to the curse, or worse killing them. For Sirius to ignore that just to settle a petty rivalry shows how little he gave Remus's feelings and well-being a thought. Considering Lycanthropy was Rowling's allegory for Aids, it would be like Sirius injecting Remus's blood into someone else, not only making Remus responsible for infecting someone, but also risking outing Remus for having Aids. I can't truly picture Remus ever fully getting over Sirius so effectively disregarding his safety and using him in such a way.
So I figure 16 year old Remus would still feel sort of raw about what happened and finding out that Sirius and James are STILL targeting Severus after not only nearly killing him but also being requested by Remus to leave the boy alone would be the last straw for Remus.
Hope you enjoyed it! Review please.