Hi there!

Is everyone enjoying December? Preparing for the holidays. I know I am, though it comes with risks. Adding to my long line of holiday related injuries, I've done something to my shoulder and can't lift my left arm up past my sternum without pain, mostly likely the result of pushing my friend's car out of the snowbank recently or hefting pellet bags for the pellet stove (I'm the heavy lifter in my family with my mom having spinal stenosis and my brother having a congenital birth defect in both hips). I'm sure crocheting a 35 pond weighted blanket for a Christmas gift didn't help matters XD

Anyway, on with the story.

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter 136: Slither

November came with an icy chill to the air that sent students deep into their wardrobes for their warmest cloaks and mittens, wool hats perched atop every head that wandered outside and thick scarves wrapped around every face lest the approaching winter wind nip their noses. Plenty of students sported the more mortifyingly embarrassing gifts knitted by over sentimental mothers and aunt, more than willing to withstand the humiliation of a hand stitched romper with a cutesy woodland creature on it if only to be a few degrees warmer.

It was the unfortunate downside of living somewhere as fantastical an ancient castle; stonework meant stone cold outer hallways in the winter, and scalding hot surfaces in the spring and summer. Thankfully, the classrooms and dorms were magically heated, but getting from places like the castle to the greenhouses or Care of Magical Creatures classes were rather brisk, harsh, and unpleasant on even the most mildest of days.

"I hardly remember it being this cold in the winter," Severus remarked, bundled up in a heavy winter cloak as he trudged up towards the castle. He hadn't remembered buying such an item, let alone packing it, but he had a strong suspicions his mother and Ponderosa snuck it in. It was leagues better than the threadbare cloaks he used to wear, and even warmer than the cloak the Evans's insisted on buying him last winter.

Lily breathed in deeply over the cup of hot cider she held, drawing in the warm apple notes with relish, "That's because everyone is distracted by the cold by thoughts of Christmas. Nothing goes on in November, it's just a long, cold, damp month. But December is all about fir trees and fairy lights, baked goods and worrying about getting all your shopping done. It's a mix of wonder and panic all at once. Provides a good distraction from the cold."

She nudged Severus with her elbow, "No one thinks of December and remembers nearly freezing their bits off; they remember nearly decking some old bitty for the last toy in the store, or breaking a table lamp while trying to shimmy their Christmas tree into the sitting room."

"Considering I had none of those happy memories for most of my Christmases, I think I'd be far more likely to remember the chilly rather than the jolly," Severus snarked. "And I'm telling you, it's never been this cold before."

Lily rolled her eyes, "You're exaggerating. You like to complain."

"I admit a certain pleasure in dampening everyone else's mood," Severus mused with a smirk.

"See?" Lily said, bumping shoulder with him, "You're a big old party pooper."

"I will not dignify that title with a response," Severus said, looking away with a huff.

Lily giggled, "Cheer up, we're almost to the castle."

Severus scowled up at the looming building, "What kind of buffoon thought it was a good idea to allow any classes to take place outside the castle during rain, sleet, or snow? Herbology should have an indoor segment for winter months. Blaze the fires and turn up the heat; let us learn about magical cacti or something."

"It was awful nice of Professor Sprout to brew up some cider for everyone," Lily said.

Severus frowned, "My Devil's Snare spilled mine."

"I offered to share mine," Lily pointed out, "Not my fault you said no."

"I've been feeling not quite right these past few days," Severus insisted, "Clearly I'm catching a cold o-or pneumonia or something! I won't be held responsible for getting you sick too by sharing my germs."

"So that's why you've just been pecking me on the cheek," Lily pouted, "These past few days haven't been the same without my pre-breakfast good morning kiss."

Severus folded his arms and looked away, "It's too risky. You've got that big test in Muggle Studies coming up; I won't be the reason you miss it."

"Oh no," Lily deadpanned, "Get sick and miss out on studying for a subject I literally lived firsthand. What ever would I do?"

She shoved the cup of cider under Severus's nose.

"Just one sip, Sev," Lily pleaded, "That can't be enough to get me sick and it will warm you up."

Severus eyed the cup cynically, the wispy tendrils of steam wafting off the cup like some beckoning temptress.

"It warms you down to the core," Lily prodded, shaking the cup slightly so that the caramel colored liquid inside sloshed precariously.

Quickly, before he could talk himself out of it, Severus snatched up the cup and took a big gulp. Smacking his lips, he closed his eyes and tipped his head back, allowing the hot, comforting cider to slide down his parched throat.

Stubbornly, he shoved the cup back into Lily's hands.

"That's it for me," he said firmly.

Lily shrugged, "Fine by me. I got an indirect kiss out of it," she gleefully drank from her cup, then turned to Severus with a victorious grin.

"Taste like Severus," she said impishly.

Severus shook his head, rolling his eyes, "Don't come crying to me if you catch my cold."

"Alleged cold," Lily reminded him, "You haven't checked with Madam Pomfrey to be sure. And anyway, even if you did have something, she could fix you up right quick."

Severus sighed, too cold to argue. Lily took far too much pleasure in weaseling around his logic, he thought fondly.

Mercifully, they reached the castle entrance, Severus hurrying through the door and letting out a sigh of contentment as the warming charms inside washed over him.

Remus was already waiting for them, "Took you two long enough."

"Shut it," Severus snapped, "Not all of us are barmy enough to try and sprint up wet grass on an incline. Black fell twice."

"Because he lacked the foresight to cast a charm for traction under his feet," Remus said with a smirk, eyes going to his miffed boyfriend currently being laughed at by James and Peter, "But seriously, you two took longer than usual to get here."

Lily jerked a thumb at her boyfriend, "Blame Severus. Whenever he's grouchy he doesn't walk; he trudges. Adds to the journey by a time and a half."

"I don't trudge," Severus said peevishly.

"Fine then," Lily said with a smirk, "lumber, skulk, slog. Take your pick."

"You're a brat, you know that?" Severus asked, deadpanned.

Lily stuck her tongue out, "And you're stuck with me."

"Technically I'm not," Severus pointed out, "Because you failed to get out of Jessica and Meldonna's invite to spend free period with them."

He pointed to the sour faced pair of girls, now currently headed Lily's way.

"Oh, bullocks," Lily cursed.

"Lily," Jess exclaimed, pouncing upon the redhead like a cat catching a field mouse. Her smile was way too forced, her voice too light and excessively happy to be genuine, "You are coming to study with us…aren't you?"

Lily cringed under the heavy, intense scrutiny of her dorm mates, "Well, I mean…uh…maybe. I uh…guess?"

She sent a searching look towards Severus.

Severus shrugged, barely hiding his smirk, "You go ahead, Lily. I'll just spend time with Lupin."

Lily's eyes narrowed at his betrayal, her glare promising that she would get back at him.

"Wonderful," Jess said, clapping her hands with exaggerated merriment, "How lucky for you, Lily, so glad you could pull yourself away from…lesser company," she said the last part with a thinly veiled sneer of disdain towards Severus.

Lily looked very much like she wanted to protest that insult, but the haughty girls dragged her away, talking over her as they went.

"They're still trying to use their friendship with her as a way to spite Mary, huh?" Remus asked, watching the trio of young women leave.

"Yep," Severus said, "At this point it's just become a nuisance rather than a real problem. Sometimes it's actually sort of funny how much they inadvertently make asses out of themselves. Everyone can see how phony they are at this point."

"And you left your girlfriend to suffer their inane babble?" Remus asked, "How cruel."

"She teased me about being a grump," Severus said simply, "I am merely letting her see there are for more unpleasant people out there to suffer the attentions of."

Remus grinned, "You're evil sometimes."

Severus shrugged, "So I've been told."

The pair wandered up the stairs, passing a now playfully squabbling Sirius and James while Peter tried his hardest to not get pulled into their wrestling match.

"Besides," Severus said flippantly, "It's always fun for Lily to regale Mary with stories of the other two's antics. Not to mention, she can warn Mary if they're up to something. They're still got it out for her and I wouldn't put it past them to take their grudge beyond catty comments at some point."

Remus nodded, "True, they're a mean spirited bunch when they want to be. Mel made a few second year Hufflepuffs cry last year at Valentine's day. Not entirely sure why Lily and Mary stayed friends with them so long."

"Because it is easier to 'make nice' with those you share a room with," Severus stated, "not to mention wiser. It's not the safest thing to piss off those who have access to where you sleep."

Remus winced, "Good point. Never really considered how rough it could be to share a room with people you don't get along with. I lucked out that I got on so well with Sirius and the others."

"While some of us had the misfortune of rooming with the likes of Jess," Severus said, "Or in my case, Avery."

Again, Remus cringed, "That had to be nerve-wracking."

"It was," Severus admitted, "Even when you were on his good side, that didn't guarantee you any safety; Avery and Mulciber were notorious for trying new hexes out on their 'friends'."

"Anyway, I'm sure Lily had other reasons for trying to make things work with Jess and Mel," Severus added as they rounded another staircase.

Remus hummed, "Such as?"

"Well, the reason she stayed friends with me, for example," Severus brought up a tad reluctantly, "No one thought highly of me and I frankly wasn't the easiest person to get along with. I was downright waspish to Lily most of the time. Still she stayed my friend because she wanted to see the good in me. I imagine she felt the same about Jess and Meldonna."

"Yeah, but you actually had a reason for your behavior," Remus pointed out, "You were miserable and not a lot of us were making things easier for you. Sure that doesn't excuse all your behavior, or even most of it, but you were sort of on the defensive by nature. Jess and Mel though have had great lives and great friends and family. There's no logical reason for them to be so nasty; they just are because it's amusing to them."

Severus gave a half shrug, "Still, you can see where Lily would have trouble kicking them to the curb. She wants to see the good in others."

"Sounds like all that's happened has helped the two of you switch roles slightly," Remus observed, "You needed to stop seeing the bad in everything and Lily needed to realize that not everyone has good in them. Like Avery."

"I'm glad he's dead," Severus admitted quietly.

"So he really was one of the inferi?" Remus asked, "I heard mention from Lily, but…"

"It was him," Severus said, "Mulciber too. I guess You-Know-Who intercepted their transport to Azkaban to punish them himself."

He shuddered, "I suppose he felt the only way they'd still be useful serving him would be as the final defense in that cave, under the lake."

"And Lily destroyed them," Remus murmured, "That had to have been hard on her."

"It would have been hard for me too," Severus admitted, "Sometimes I still see his wand pointed at me, hear Lily screaming in my ear, and my own curse being used against me. It's an…unsettling feeling, dying. It hurts, but…not as bad as you think it would. You're too in shock, I think, to really feel much of anything. Everything just slows down…it's gets very still."

He stopped moving, staring at his feet, "I could hear my heartbeat…getting slower. I remember not being able to draw in enough air. It was…wholly terrifying."

Remus reached out hesitantly, his hand hovering over Severus with uncertainty. When Severus didn't pull away, Remus rested his hand on Severus shoulder.

"I'm glad we should up when we did," he confessed, referring to him and the Marauders, "I'm glad we were able to buy you some time before the healers arrived."

"I don't suppose I ever thanked you for that," Severus said, looking at Remus, "Lily said you knew what to do."

"My mum's a nurse," Remus answered easily, "I broke open a vein far too deep a time or two while transformed. Sometimes it doesn't always clot over when I change back. She was always the one to patch me up. Really, though, it was the countercurse that saved you."

"Thank you…Remus," Severus said softly, "You…I owe a lot to you, all things considered, and I know I've let prejudice cloud my thinking in the past in regards to you. Sirius was the one who sent me into the willow, and still I blamed you just as much as him…for something you had no control over. With how hard I tried to expose you, you had no reason to feel obligated to help me on the train, and I—"

Remus cut him off, "Doing the right thing isn't about obligation; it's about compassion, Severus. I helped you because I honestly worried about you. That's all there is to it. I couldn't just let you die."

Severus snorted, "You make it seem like such a simple decision."

Remus smiled sadly, "Yes, I suppose it's more complicated than I made it sound."

"My mum always taught me to treat others how I wish to be treated," Remus went on, "And in all honesty, I failed in that with how I let James and Sirius treat you so badly. I would hate for the Slytherins to treat me how Gryffindors treated you and I ignored the hypocrisy. I was too busy enjoying having people who would always have my back to consider how easily I could have been in your position."

"But," Remus added, "When I saw you on the train, dying…all I could think of was all the times I'd lie bleeding on the floor of the shack after the full moon. Everything hurting, feeling so scared and helpless. The only thing I ever wanted in those times was for someone to come through the door and tell me everything was going to be alright…I couldn't leave you like that, Severus."

Remus closed his eyes, wincing as the memory flashed before his eyes. There had been something so deeply unsettling in seeing Severus so still, paler than he'd ever been. He'd always been a jumpy, twitchy sort, never still, never at ease. Even when standing still his hands were always moving, always busying about something.

But as he lied there with his skin rapidly becoming paler than the whites of his eyes, he looked so…wrong. The look of shock frozen on Severus's face slackening as he lost consciousness held so much fear, so much...regret.

Remus had been so dazed returning home that it wasn't until his mother screamed that he'd realized he was still wearing clothes covered in Severus's blood.

His father had burned the ruined clothes that night was he sat shaking in the comfort of his mother's arms, an untouched chocolate bar melting in his hands.

Severus brought Remus back to the present.

"Yes," Severus said awkwardly, "Well, I wouldn't be being quite honest myself if I said I had given much concern for your struggles either. Even after I figured you out, I didn't have the slightest bit of sympathy for what you went through every month; I just saw getting you expelled or revealed as a means to triumphing over Potter for once. So I can't exactly be mad at you for not considering me when I wouldn't do the same for you."

Remus clapped Severus on the back, "Hey, we were dumb kids; hindsight's twenty/twenty. We can't expect everything we do to be well thought out or logical."

Severus gave a conceding nod, "That's true, I guess. Still I pride myself on smart decision, on excellent reasoning"

"And if wishes and buts were clusters of nuts, we'd all have a bowl of granola," Remus said.

Severus stared at him, "I'm sorry, what?"

Remus waved dismissively, "Something my dad used to say. Basically I'm trying to say that you can't be too hard on yourself for not meeting your own impossible standards and wishful thinking and 'what if's won't get you anywhere. No one lives up to their own expectations. Better just accept mistakes and learn from them than berate yourself for having made a mistake in the first place."

"Let's put it this way," Remus said, rounding on Severus, "Do you forgive me for not stopping James and Sirius?"

Severus blinked, taken aback, "…yes?"

"Well I forgive you for letting your hurt cloud your thinking on exposing me," Remus stated, "So long as we forgive each other; does it really matter if you're disappointed in yourself? The one you wronged isn't disappointed."

Severus mulled it over, "I…suppose you're right."

"Of course I am," Remus said cheerfully, once again falling back into step with Severus as they took the stairs, "What matters is we're friends now."

"Friends may be going a bit far," Severus said wryly.

Remus elbowed him, "Oh shush, we're buddies. We're—oh…" Remus took in their surroundings, "I suppose we were walking longer than I realized."

They stood halfway down a long corridor. What set it apart from the previous corridors was the apparent emptiness, only three other students flittering about the hall, two rounding a corner out of sight and another hurrying past Severus and Remus to head downstairs.

A draft ruffled the corner of a tapestry up ahead.

"The seventh floor," Severus said, walking up to the very familiar sight of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance ballet on the tapestry. He looked across from the tapestry to the adjacent wall, "The doors for the Come and Go room appear right here."

"Weird," Remus murmured, walking up to the currently empty wall, "We just subconsciously walked here."

He turned to Severus, "I was sort of following your lead. Were you thinking about this place, or something?"

"A little?" Severus confessed with a shrug, "I swear, I was listening fully to our conversation, but you know how I am. Always thinking about fifty things at once."

Remus ran a hand along the wall, "Stuck on the horcruxes, are you?"

"Are you really that surprised?" Severus asked, "We're nearly midway through the year and we still need to find the remaining ones. This is our last year in what could be the only safe place left in wizarding Britain and I would like to at least walk into this war having destroyed his final contingency plans first."

"And how does this room fit in to all that?" Remus questioned curiously.

Severus sighed, "I don't know. It's helped us several times before already. I just…the others got me thinking."

Remus cocked his head, "About what?"

"Nesme and Renee were wondering what exactly the limits were to the room," Severus explained, beginning to walk in front of the wall were a door usually appears, "Like, what can it make and if those rooms are made out of thin air or if they could bring you somewhere that already exists."

Remus joined him, "So you're wondering if it could…what? Give you a door to the vault the cup might be in?"

"Maybe," Severus queried, "It couldn't hurt to try. It's one of the only horcruxes we know for sure exists and we still have no clue if there are any others. Or if he plans to make more if he hasn't already."

Not realizing his own thoughts were getting off track, Severus prattled on, "I wish we had a clue what coming."

A door appeared on the wall as expected, though it wasn't the vault door they had hoped to see. In fact, it hardly constituted as a door at all, a ramshackle, shoddy mess of weather beaten lumber held together by rusty nails and sporting a loose door handle half rusted over.

"I think you're thoughts got a little divided during the third pass," Remus guessed, staring warily at the door.

Severus didn't say anything, eyeing the door with cautious uncertainty. Hesitantly, he reached out and gave the handle a tug. It wouldn't budge.

"It's stuck," he told Remus, "Give me a hand with this."

"This seems like a bad idea," Remus advised, even as he came over to help.

It took a bit of force, but the door eventually popped open with an unpleasant and sharp drag of splintered wood across the floor.

What lay before them was the interior of a very un-cozy cabin, a shack more than anything else. Unsanded floorboards bore splinters and dirt, a ratty and frayed rug in the center of the room holding more stains than actual visible pattern. A barely lit fire glimmered in a poorly made fireplace in the far corner and did nothing for the chill. A rickety table sat to one side holding a mismatched, chipped cup and bowl. The opposite corner held a small bed too frail looking to reasonably hold a person, the threadbare blanket and flat pillow hanging half off the bed.

"This isn't Gringotts," Remus said, stating the obvious.

"What was your first clue?" Severus asked sarcastically, taking a step inside.

Remus grasped his arm. "You're not seriously going in there, are you?"

"Why not?" Severus questioned, "It's what the room brought us."

Shaking off Remus's hold, Severus stepped further into the shack, confirming it was indeed a one-room abode or poorly maintained condition.

"I'd say this was a bad idea, but it wouldn't be the first bad idea at this point," Remus sighed with defeated, stepping into the room as well, "Why bring us to an abandoned cabin?"

"It isn't abandoned," Severus stated.

Remus nearly tripped mid-step, "What?"

"It's not abandoned," Severus repeated, standing over the bowl on the table, inspecting it, "The rice in this is still fresh, the fire is still lit. Someone lives here."

Remus frowned, "So the room can actually bring us to actual locations?"

Severus shrugged, "Either that or can recreate a convincing imitation. There's door over there; whatever we've meant to see must be outside."

"Outside?" Remus echoed, looking apprehensively at the trees through the dusty, grimy windows.

"Well clearly there's nothing to see in here," Severus said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Remus followed Severus out the other door with a frown, "This can't be wise."

Outside was cold, bitingly so. Both boy's breath came out in clouds as they stared up at the canopy of snow and ice coated trees and pines.

"Any clue where we are?" Remus ventured to ask.

Severus looked around them searchingly, "No idea."

The pair walked warily into the forest, the snow crunching beneath their feet.

Remus shivered, pulling his cloak tighter around himself, "Glad I didn't change out of this."

"You're telling me," Severus muttered, quivering with cold, "I don't think winters get this cold in Scotland or Britain."

"So we're not in either of those places," Remus surmised worriedly.

A branch snapped behind them, making both boys freeze up.

A rustling came from somewhere nearby.

Something cawed; something else rumbled.

"Severus," Remus whispered, gripping Severus's arm tightly, "You don't think the room would send us somewhere dangerous, do you?"

"I-I…I don't know," Severus admitted, "I'm still not sure how it works."

There was moment up ahead, abrupt and sudden, making the pair stop in their tracks.

"Something's here with us," Remus said in a hushed panic.

Drawing his wand, Severus looked to Remus to do the same.

A noise reached their ears; crying.

Severus raised a finger to his lips, communicating silently with Remus. The other boy nodded and the two ventured cautiously forward.

Severus reached out to move aside a branch, the weeping just up ahead, when Remus shot out and grabbed his arm. His eyes held a silent plea, 'let's turn back.'

Not about to be deterred, Severus shook off Remus's hold with a stern look and moved the piney branch aside.

It was a woman, young and willowy. Clad only in a thin dress, she kneeled hunched over in the snow, her shoulders quaking with soft sobs.

"Uh…miss?" Severus called out gently, risking a step forward, "Are you alright?"

The woman didn't answer, crying still as her long black hair spilled over her shoulders in limp tendrils.

"Miss?" Severus called again, taking another step closer, "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

The woman's sobbing only seemed to grow louder, her whimpers turning into outright bawling.

Worriedly, Remus unclipped his cloak, stepping near to offer it to the woman.

"You must be cold," he said, observing her unsuitable attire; he noted it looked to be patterned in some sort of snake skin.

Just as Remus was reaching out to drape the cloak over the woman's shoulders, her crying changed. Her body twitching and jerking sporadically, the woman's hiccups trailed off into a low sound, her sobs and sniffles becoming long and soft…slowly morphing into a subtle hiss.

Remus dropped his cloak in shock, stepping back in horror as the woman's body suddenly began contorting and twisting before his and Severus eyes.

Winding, writhing, the woman dropped her head into an oddly contorted angle, her arms coming up over her and seemingly never ending as they wound around her body while her torso grew and stretched, rolling across the ground with sickening cracks.

Severus and Remus could only gape in terror as the woman's skin turned a mottled green, becoming scaley and hard.

"We need to go," Severus said, fear rising up in his throat to claw its way out of his mouth in a startled croak. He grabbed Remus by the arm, "We need to go now."

The snake shot out at them just as he tugged Remus back, the massive beast striking the snow they'd stood in mere moments before.

Remus stumbled backwards and nearly lost his footing, only Severus's hands managing to keep him standing.

"Run!" Severus ordered in a panic, dragging Remus back the way they came.

"What is that thing?" Remus yelled, terror in his voice, "A mini basilisk?"

"Don't know, don't want to find out," Severus shot back, weaving in and out of the trees. Branches struck his face, slicing little, stinging cuts along his skin, but he kept running.

Behind him, Severus could hear the creature slithering through the forest, crushing saplings beneath its weight

He nearly wept with joy when he saw the cabin up ahead, "Get inside."

Remus threw himself against the door, wrenching on the handle desperately, "It's stuck!"

"Keep pulling!' Severus shouted, rushing to the door and yanking on the handle.

"It's getting closer!" Remus cried.

Severus continued to tug at the door, "keeping trying!"

"Severus!" Remus all but screamed as the snake breeched the trees and lunged at them.

Severus flattened himself against the door, wand out and shaking, "Sectumsemp—"

The snake disappeared just as it reached them, vanishing into dust like it was blown away in the wind.

Remus panted, face still an ashen white, "…what…the...fu—"

The door behind them opened, unceremoniously throwing the pair onto the floor.

Looking up, Severus found himself and Remus in the seventh floor corridor.

Remus dropped his head onto the floor, hand over his pounding heart, "What just happened? Was that a prank? A message?"

Severus stared at the place the door once stood, breathing heavy.

"I think it was a warning…" he said finally, letting his head fall back against the stone.

Did anyone think Nagini was going to come into play at all? Anyone?

I'd mulled over her inclusion when I first started writing this. Technically, she hasn't been made into a horcrux yet if I have the timeline right; Voldemort doesn't do that until later, I think. BUT that doesn't mean she wouldn't still have a role to play in this story.

Review please :)