1.1.1 Chapter 2: The Werewolf Incident
Time passed by, and Eve's first year at Hogwarts was gone, and a new year begun. Her relationship with Severus (if there was such a thing) wasn't that terrible; he would run away or be suddenly very late to class whenever he could, but still, he found actually funny the fact of having a Gryffindor little girl flying around him like a brainless moth. He just loved it when they were talking (actually, when Eve was talking and Severus walking faster and faster), or walking together (Severus always a few steps ahead), and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter saw them, looking completely upset... that pleased Severus enormously. He was still very mean to her sometimes but he was then very upset with her and himself, and the world, and life, because even if he sometimes acted like a monster with her, she was always nice to him. He hated it when she was so nice to him after he was mean and rude with her. Her nice comments and behaviour made him notice his vulgarity and rudeness, and the more she was nice to him, the more he hated it, to the point of desperation. Still, he kept being mean with her, because it was his nature and it still pleased him, and she didn't seem to care at all.
Eve didn't notice it then because, being a twelve years old girl with a crush and an obsession for this mysterious boy, she was too concentrated in following Severus, wanting to know everything about him, trying to reveal his "mystery", but Severus knew more about her and her Marauders friends than she did about him. Everytime she met Severus, she began talking about her life, how she was living with her uncle, things she liked, like playing Quidditch, things she didn't like at all, like her History of Magic class, her dreams, her friends, her experience during the last two years in Hogwarts, trying to break the ice and gain Severus' confidence. Sometimes it was really boring for Severus, but sometimes it was actually useful; Eve, amazed as she was that the mysterious boy was actually listening to her, didn't pay attention to what was she saying, and she confirmed something that Severus Snape was thinking about for years.
"I really don't know why is it, that Remus disappears every month... he says her mom is sick, so he must visit her, but I don't know... also, James, Sirius and Peter act very weird when Remus is gone. They... just disappear as well... I wonder what's going on with them..."
"Why don't you ask them what's up with them? You're their friend, aren't you? You could be finding out what's with them instead of being here wasting my time..."
"It's just that... well... I saw Remus the other day with Madame Pomfrey, the same day he was supposed to go home to see his mom... maybe he's sick..."
"Oh, yes? Where did you see them?"
"Near the Whomping Willow... but I guess he was just breathing some fresh air..."
Eve's child innocence had just given Severus some priceless information. He had tried to find out what was going on with Lupin since he noticed that once a month he disappeared, with no luck, because Prof. Dumbledore seemed to be watching that nobody asked too many questions about it. But now, he had a clue, a place where to start searching.
It was a nice April night. The air was fresh, and the sky had many stars. There were many students walking outside, enjoying some free time. At 9 PM, everybody was heading to the Great Hall to have dinner. Well... not everybody. Severus could perfectly distinguish Madame Pomfrey and Lupin's outlines in the night. They were walking to the Whomping Willow, just as Eve Hollow has said. Nobody else seemed to notice them; all they wanted was to eat tons of food and go directly to bed. But Severus did notice, and tried to see what were they doing so close to the Whomping Willow; it was difficult to see, though, because there were too many students walking towards the castle, blocking Severus' eyesight. Still, he tried to see...
"What are you looking at, slimeball?"
Severus turned around and saw Sirius Black giving him a fierce look. James Potter was a few steps ahead, looking at Sirius, wanting to just get inside and have some food.
"I thought your friend had to go home today... why is he still here?" asked Severus.
There was a slight spark of evil in Sirius' eyes.
"Oh... you really want to know?"- he walked closer to Severus – "OK... I'll tell you what. Look at the Whomping Willow again..."
Severus stared at Sirius as if suspecting something, and then turned to look at the point where Madame Pomfrey and Lupin were, but...
"Where did they go??"
Madame Pomfrey and Remus Lupin had just disappeared.
Sirius got even closer to Severus, and put his right hand on Severus' shoulder.
"Now, Snape. Come in. Have some dinner. And, when everybody is leaving to the common rooms, come back here with a long stick. Then, prod the knot on the tree trunk (you'll find it easily) with the stick, and, voilà! You'll be able to follow Remus and ask him right in his face why is he disappearing once a month."
Severus stared at Sirius in disbelief. "Why are you telling me this?"
Sirius looked deeply into his eyes and whispered.
"Because I'm tired of you snooping around, trying to find out what's with Remus. I think it's time for you to know the truth and leave him alone."
And said this, Sirius headed to the Great Hall, following James. Severus stood there for a moment and then, headed to the Great Hall as well.
"What have you done?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you tell him that?" –James kept walking to the Gryffindor common room, whispering to Sirius – "It's dangerous, Sirius... he could get killed!"
"Well... what a loss!"
"It's not funny!" – now James was upset, looking around to see if anyone was listening to them. "You could get yourself kicked out of Hogwarts for this!"
"Oh, why do you worry so much? He's always trying to know everything we do, to see if he gets us expelled. If he goes there and tries to follow Remus, he deserves a good bite from a werewo..."
"Shut up!" – James stood in front of Sirius –"You will come with me and stop Snape, Padfoot."
"No, I won't."
The night was getting colder at 11 PM. The clouds were moving in the sky, following the path of the soft wind. Up above all this, the full moon was shining, illuminating the schoolyard of Hogwarts. Everything was calm and quiet. Then, all of a sudden, a small figure appeared running in the outdoors, heading to the Whomping Willow. Once there, the figure looked around, to see if anyone was following him, picked up a long stick, and touched the knot of the Whomping Willow with it. Immediately, the branches stopped moving, and Severus Snape entered the secret path behind the willow. One minute later, another figure appeared running to the Whomping Willow, and also entered the secret path behind it.
Inside, there was a large, narrow, dark and irregular tunnel. Severus took his wand out of his robes, and said "Lumus!" He walked a few minutes completely alone, when he felt that someone was following him. He turned around and waited, his wand ready.
"Snape! Come back! It's dangerous!"
It was James Potter's voice. When they met, Severus was grinning.
"Trying to stop me from discovering your friend's secret, Potter?"
"Shut up! We must turn back! It's dangerous to be here, don't you understand?"
"I'm not going back."
Severus dedicated his most disagreeable smile to James and kept walking deeper inside the tunnel.
"No! Stop!"
James grabbed Severus' robes, trying to stop him.
"LET ME GO, POTTER!!"- he turned around- "Afraid, aren't you? Afraid because I will discover your little secret, aren't you? That's why you want to stop me so badly!"
"Don't shout! Shut up!" said James whispering in desperation. "Shut up!"
"Why should I shut up! Don't you dare giving me orders, Potter! You..!"
And then he shut up.
Coming from the end of the tunnel, Severus heard a low growl. He was a few steps away from the end, and he just couldn't believe what he saw. There, standing menacingly and showing his bare teeth, there was a big adult wolf. He was looking dangerously at Severus and James, ready to attack both boys. What happened next, none of them would ever forget.
"RUN!!!!!" shouted James, as he caught Severus' robes and pulled him back, saving him from the wolf's teeth just in time. They ran all the way back to the Whomping Willow, but the wolf was way faster than them. He was getting close to them, they could hear his breathing; then, James did something very brave but very stupid indeed. He turned around and transformed into a stag right in front of Severus, and tried to stop the wolf with his antlers. Severus ran off the tunnel, and touched the tree knot with the long stick again, to make the brenches stop and ran away. Right after him, appeared James, panting, and with a wound on his left arm. Severus looked at him in horror.
"You...! You are...!"
"Yes" – James nodded. He was an Animagus.
"Why... why did you come after me?" Severus still couldn't believe what had just happened.
"It was a bad idea of Sirius. I had to stop you."
"And he is..."- Severus looked back at the tunnel entrance – "He is a werewolf!" he whispered.
"Yes, indeed" a calmed voice said.
They both looked around and saw Albus Dumbledore staring to them. Behind him was a really pale Sirius Black.
They were all standing in Prof. Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking at them through his middle-moon spectacles.
"Is that all you have to say?"
"Yes, Professor" – replied Sirius. "It was all my idea, so please, don't do anything to James or Remus..."
Dumbledore raised his right hand.
"It's ok, Sirius. I'm not going to expel you, nor your friends."
Sirius' face suddenly had the colors of life again. He was even blushing.
"Th... thank you, Professor... thank you very much!"
James looked at him; he thought he was just about to cry. Severus, in other hand, was just shocked. They were not to be expelled! How could this be? Severus looked at Dumbledore. He was staring at Sirius, then at James and then caught Severus' look. He took a specially long time when looking at the last one. Finally, he spoke.
"Severus... I assume you will understand that you cannot say a word about this to anyone in Hogwarts."
"But..."
"Please, understand, that there is a family worried for their child; they thought he would never be accepted in Hogwarts because of his condition, and the tunnel behind the Whomping Willow is the only way Remus Lupin can stay in Hogwarts. It was my idea to accept him and build the Shrieking Shack, to keep him apart of the rest of the students while transforming, and it was my idea to keep all this secret. So, if you reveal what happened tonight, you will not only destroy Remus' possibilities to finish his education, but you will also dare my authority and decisions."
Severus didn't say anything, but he nodded.
"Promise me, Severus."
"I... I promise, Professor Dumbledore..." Still, there was a bit of resentment in his voice. Dumbledore smiled.
"Severus.. Severus..." Dumbledore stood up smiling and softly patted Severus' back. "Ok. I think that's all. Go back to your common rooms, and remember: don't say a word about this. Oh, and James... I think you better go to the Hospital Wing..."
They left Dumbledore's office and walked together until they reached a staircase next to a corridor. Upstairs was the Hospital Wing. James and Sirius looked at Severus. James tried to smile, but Severus was way too confused, embarassed, annoyed, upset and quiet to smile back. They just walked upstairs, and Severus continued his way to the Slytherin common room. But then, he turned.
"Potter!"
James and Sirius looked back.
"I don't know if you did notice, but I didn't say a word about you being... what you are..."
"I did notice... and I thank you..."
"DON'T THANK ME!!"
And Severus headed to the Slytherin common room, leaving James and Sirius very confused.
"What... what was that?" –asked James.
"Don't pay attention to him... he's just upset because you just saved his life. I think he didn't say a word of you being and Animagus to Dumbledore because he was trying to pay you back, but he knows that's not enough... that's why he's so mad... Come on, let's go."
When James and Sirius entered the Gryffindor common room an hour later, after saying the password to the Fat Lady ("Lullaby!"), they found Lily and Peter sitting near the entrance, waiting for them. A bit far away was Eve, who looked very pale.
"James!" Lily shouted when she saw the boy. "What happened? Is everything OK?"
"It looks like everybody here already know what happened, eh, Sirius?" said James.
"I told them before I went and looked after Dumbledore. Actually, it was Lily who convinced me to do so..."
"How's Moony? Is he fine?" asked Peter.
"As fine as a werewolf can be..." whispered James. He noticed that Eve was sobbing. "Eve.. what... what happens?"
"It's my fault" she cried. "I told him... about the Whomping Willow and Remus, and Madame Pomfrey... it's all my fault..."
"What...?" James just didn't understand at all.
"Eve... well, she accidentaly told Snape that she saw Remus and Madame Pomfrey walking to the willow one day when he was supposed to go home and see his mother" said Lily. "But still, I will say it again, Eve; it was not your fault. Sirius' joke was a very bad idea, and Snape wouldn't have been able to discover Remus' secret if it wasn't for him..."
"That's true, Eve. I'm sorry I made you suffer. But see, James is fine...!" said Sirius, with a huge smile on his face.
"And Severus?"
"Wha... Snape?"
"Yes... what about him? Is he OK?"
"Well... yes... he didn't even get a bite from Remus, you know?"
Eve didn't say a word for a few moments. Then, she exploded.
"Just... HOW COULD YOU?"
She stood up and looked directly into Sirius' eyes, her eyes filled with tears. "You could have killed him!"
"Wha.... I ... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" shouted Sirius, with a look of horror in his face.
"What?" asked Eve.
"You like him!!!" replied Sirius, blushing furiously out of his anger.
"Nah!!!"
"YES, YOU DO!! How can this be? A Slytherin!! An enemy!! I thought you were our friend!!"
"Sirius, please calm down, you'll wake up the whole house" said Lily, trying to stop Sirius from shouting and starting a row in the common room at 1 AM.
"But she... she... she!!!" stammed Sirius.
"So what if she likes him? You can't command her heart, Marauder!" Now Lily was upset.
"I-DON'T-LIKE-HIM!!" said Eve, blushing as well. "It's just that I never thought Sirius would be able to do such horrible things!" And then she left to the girls dormitory, leaving a very upset Sirius being calmed down by James and Lily, and a very scared Peter looking at them from behind his chair.
Meanwhile, Severus was having some real hard time at the Slytherin common room. He went directly to bed, because nobody was waiting for him; it wasn't right according to the Slytherins rules to wait for a friend and see if he was OK. They just didn't care; and so, Severus didn't care either. But he did care about the humilliation. He had just been saved by James Potter, "James Potter!!!", he thought, and he would never, ever be able to pay him back. He was in debt with James Potter, and Severus Snape hated his new himself. Just before he fell asleep, Severus found himself thinking of Eve Hollow and her words... she was the one who told him about the Whomping Willow and Lupin... maybe everything was a trap. "Of course... she's their friend..."
The next day, everything seemed normal in Hogwarts, only that Remus Lupin wasn't there. Severus Snape had a horrible night, he had nightmares all the time, and woke up every hour remembering the events of last night; the werewolf, James Potter saving his life, then Dumbledore. When he finally woke up the next day at 7 AM, he just wanted to die rather than live with the humilliation. But he didn't die, and he just had to dress up and have some breakfast, and assist to classes as always. While walking to his Transfiguration class, he found himself right in front of Eve Hollow; she was waiting for him before he entered classes as always, only this time, he didn't say a word to her and just entered the classroom.
In the afternoon, Severus was avoiding Eve as much as he could; he just didn't want to talk to her, not even see her; to this point, he had convinced himself that the incident with Lupin was a trap of the Marauders, and she had helped them... but he wouldn't forget, nor forgive. Eve seemed to notice this, because she just disappeared the rest of the day.
Later in the evening, Severus was heading to the library; this was the worst day of his life, and all he wanted was to be completely alone. He knew most of the students would be heading to the Great Hall for dinner, so he decided to work in his homework far away from everybody while they were all eating. He was walking through a corridor when he heard soft steps behind him. He turned around, knowing what he was about to see; standing a few steps from him was Eve Hollow.
"What do you want, muggle?"
"I want to talk to you... to actually talk to you and explain some things..."
"There's nothing to explain. Now, leave me alone." He turned around and began walking again.
"Of course there are things to explain!"- Eve ran to Severus and faced him –"You really think I did it deliberately? It wasn't my intention to get you into trouble!..."
"No, of course not. Now, go away."
"But... but I was so worried!"
Severus stopped dead. He looked at her, staring into her eyes.
"Worried?"- he whispered –"Why would you worry about me?" Nobody had ever been worried about him; he didn't need anyone to be worried for him; he didn't want anyone worrying for him. "I think it's time to stop this, muggle. I don't believe a word of what you're saying. Your friends must be very happy, because you caught me off guard and fooled me. I don't even know how do you have the nerve to come and face me to say all this nonsense of you being worried about me... do yourself a favor, girl, and get lost."
Severus turned and walked again towards the library, going up a large staircase.
"I AM TELLING THE TRUTH! I WAS WORRIED FOR YOU! SEVERUS!!"
Eve ran after Severus, she was about to walk into the staircase, but then... it moved.
"Ahhhhh! HELP!!!"
Severus turned around just to find Eve hanging from the border of the moving staircase, just about to fall from the 5th floor of the castle.
"EVE!!"
Severus ran back and was just in time to catch Eve's hand before she fell down.
"Leave me alone!"- she cried. "I'm so stupid..." she thought. She was about to fall and die, and she was telling him to leave her alone.
"You... must... climb up!!"- Severus was right; the staircase was still moving, and it would crush Eve against another corridor in a few seconds. "CLIMB UP!!"
"Oh, what do you care if I get crushed?!"
"Yes, Severus, what do you care?"- he thought. "I don't care!!" he told to himself. "I don't care!"- he finally told her – "but I will be expelled if I don't save your muggle life!!"
He managed to help Eve get into the staircaise just in time, and she fell into his arms. They stood like that for a brief moment, panting and breathing heavily. The staircase finally stopped. Then, they realized that they were hugging. They moved apart from each other, blushing furiously. But Severus noticed that Eve was wounded on her right leg.
"You're wounded... you better go to the Hospital Wing."
"I'm fine. I will get going now..."
"You... need to calm down. You're way too impulsive; otherwise, you would have seen the staircase moving before running into it..."
"Oh, shut up..." Eve tried to stand up, to show Severus that her wound was nothing and that she was no impulsive girl, but her right leg really hurt, and she found herself sitting in the starcaise again in pain. Severus stared at her while she was complaining and whinning because her life sucked and she was wounded, and he didn't believe her, and she was still scared because she could have died, and many other things which sounded absolutely out of place.
"Silly..." he finally said, and to Eve's surprise, he raised her into his arms. She could have sworn that there was a slight smile on Severus' face while talking to her.
"Where...?"
"To the Hospital Wing, of course. And now, please, shut up."
Eve was in shock while Severus headed to the Hospital Wing with her in his arms. Did he call her "Eve" when she was in trouble? Was he actually smiling when he called her "silly"? And he was walking with her in his arms! Was she dreaming or what? But it was no dream...
On the other hand, Severus was telling himself all the way to the Hospital Wing that he didn't care at all about what could happen to Eve, trying to actually convince himself about that; but deep inside his head, he could hear a little voice, almost whispering, telling him that he was actually relieved after saving Eve's life. It was a weird feeling... it was like he actually cared for the little Gryffindor girl after all, but he just didn't know why. She was noisy, annoying, impulsive, naive... pity? Maybe that's why he felt like protecting her in that moment... maybe she was like a pity little animal in need for someone stronger to save her? "Yes, that must be the reason" he told to the little voice in his head.
Later, he would find out just how wrong he was.
Time passed by, and Eve's first year at Hogwarts was gone, and a new year begun. Her relationship with Severus (if there was such a thing) wasn't that terrible; he would run away or be suddenly very late to class whenever he could, but still, he found actually funny the fact of having a Gryffindor little girl flying around him like a brainless moth. He just loved it when they were talking (actually, when Eve was talking and Severus walking faster and faster), or walking together (Severus always a few steps ahead), and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter saw them, looking completely upset... that pleased Severus enormously. He was still very mean to her sometimes but he was then very upset with her and himself, and the world, and life, because even if he sometimes acted like a monster with her, she was always nice to him. He hated it when she was so nice to him after he was mean and rude with her. Her nice comments and behaviour made him notice his vulgarity and rudeness, and the more she was nice to him, the more he hated it, to the point of desperation. Still, he kept being mean with her, because it was his nature and it still pleased him, and she didn't seem to care at all.
Eve didn't notice it then because, being a twelve years old girl with a crush and an obsession for this mysterious boy, she was too concentrated in following Severus, wanting to know everything about him, trying to reveal his "mystery", but Severus knew more about her and her Marauders friends than she did about him. Everytime she met Severus, she began talking about her life, how she was living with her uncle, things she liked, like playing Quidditch, things she didn't like at all, like her History of Magic class, her dreams, her friends, her experience during the last two years in Hogwarts, trying to break the ice and gain Severus' confidence. Sometimes it was really boring for Severus, but sometimes it was actually useful; Eve, amazed as she was that the mysterious boy was actually listening to her, didn't pay attention to what was she saying, and she confirmed something that Severus Snape was thinking about for years.
"I really don't know why is it, that Remus disappears every month... he says her mom is sick, so he must visit her, but I don't know... also, James, Sirius and Peter act very weird when Remus is gone. They... just disappear as well... I wonder what's going on with them..."
"Why don't you ask them what's up with them? You're their friend, aren't you? You could be finding out what's with them instead of being here wasting my time..."
"It's just that... well... I saw Remus the other day with Madame Pomfrey, the same day he was supposed to go home to see his mom... maybe he's sick..."
"Oh, yes? Where did you see them?"
"Near the Whomping Willow... but I guess he was just breathing some fresh air..."
Eve's child innocence had just given Severus some priceless information. He had tried to find out what was going on with Lupin since he noticed that once a month he disappeared, with no luck, because Prof. Dumbledore seemed to be watching that nobody asked too many questions about it. But now, he had a clue, a place where to start searching.
It was a nice April night. The air was fresh, and the sky had many stars. There were many students walking outside, enjoying some free time. At 9 PM, everybody was heading to the Great Hall to have dinner. Well... not everybody. Severus could perfectly distinguish Madame Pomfrey and Lupin's outlines in the night. They were walking to the Whomping Willow, just as Eve Hollow has said. Nobody else seemed to notice them; all they wanted was to eat tons of food and go directly to bed. But Severus did notice, and tried to see what were they doing so close to the Whomping Willow; it was difficult to see, though, because there were too many students walking towards the castle, blocking Severus' eyesight. Still, he tried to see...
"What are you looking at, slimeball?"
Severus turned around and saw Sirius Black giving him a fierce look. James Potter was a few steps ahead, looking at Sirius, wanting to just get inside and have some food.
"I thought your friend had to go home today... why is he still here?" asked Severus.
There was a slight spark of evil in Sirius' eyes.
"Oh... you really want to know?"- he walked closer to Severus – "OK... I'll tell you what. Look at the Whomping Willow again..."
Severus stared at Sirius as if suspecting something, and then turned to look at the point where Madame Pomfrey and Lupin were, but...
"Where did they go??"
Madame Pomfrey and Remus Lupin had just disappeared.
Sirius got even closer to Severus, and put his right hand on Severus' shoulder.
"Now, Snape. Come in. Have some dinner. And, when everybody is leaving to the common rooms, come back here with a long stick. Then, prod the knot on the tree trunk (you'll find it easily) with the stick, and, voilà! You'll be able to follow Remus and ask him right in his face why is he disappearing once a month."
Severus stared at Sirius in disbelief. "Why are you telling me this?"
Sirius looked deeply into his eyes and whispered.
"Because I'm tired of you snooping around, trying to find out what's with Remus. I think it's time for you to know the truth and leave him alone."
And said this, Sirius headed to the Great Hall, following James. Severus stood there for a moment and then, headed to the Great Hall as well.
"What have you done?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why did you tell him that?" –James kept walking to the Gryffindor common room, whispering to Sirius – "It's dangerous, Sirius... he could get killed!"
"Well... what a loss!"
"It's not funny!" – now James was upset, looking around to see if anyone was listening to them. "You could get yourself kicked out of Hogwarts for this!"
"Oh, why do you worry so much? He's always trying to know everything we do, to see if he gets us expelled. If he goes there and tries to follow Remus, he deserves a good bite from a werewo..."
"Shut up!" – James stood in front of Sirius –"You will come with me and stop Snape, Padfoot."
"No, I won't."
The night was getting colder at 11 PM. The clouds were moving in the sky, following the path of the soft wind. Up above all this, the full moon was shining, illuminating the schoolyard of Hogwarts. Everything was calm and quiet. Then, all of a sudden, a small figure appeared running in the outdoors, heading to the Whomping Willow. Once there, the figure looked around, to see if anyone was following him, picked up a long stick, and touched the knot of the Whomping Willow with it. Immediately, the branches stopped moving, and Severus Snape entered the secret path behind the willow. One minute later, another figure appeared running to the Whomping Willow, and also entered the secret path behind it.
Inside, there was a large, narrow, dark and irregular tunnel. Severus took his wand out of his robes, and said "Lumus!" He walked a few minutes completely alone, when he felt that someone was following him. He turned around and waited, his wand ready.
"Snape! Come back! It's dangerous!"
It was James Potter's voice. When they met, Severus was grinning.
"Trying to stop me from discovering your friend's secret, Potter?"
"Shut up! We must turn back! It's dangerous to be here, don't you understand?"
"I'm not going back."
Severus dedicated his most disagreeable smile to James and kept walking deeper inside the tunnel.
"No! Stop!"
James grabbed Severus' robes, trying to stop him.
"LET ME GO, POTTER!!"- he turned around- "Afraid, aren't you? Afraid because I will discover your little secret, aren't you? That's why you want to stop me so badly!"
"Don't shout! Shut up!" said James whispering in desperation. "Shut up!"
"Why should I shut up! Don't you dare giving me orders, Potter! You..!"
And then he shut up.
Coming from the end of the tunnel, Severus heard a low growl. He was a few steps away from the end, and he just couldn't believe what he saw. There, standing menacingly and showing his bare teeth, there was a big adult wolf. He was looking dangerously at Severus and James, ready to attack both boys. What happened next, none of them would ever forget.
"RUN!!!!!" shouted James, as he caught Severus' robes and pulled him back, saving him from the wolf's teeth just in time. They ran all the way back to the Whomping Willow, but the wolf was way faster than them. He was getting close to them, they could hear his breathing; then, James did something very brave but very stupid indeed. He turned around and transformed into a stag right in front of Severus, and tried to stop the wolf with his antlers. Severus ran off the tunnel, and touched the tree knot with the long stick again, to make the brenches stop and ran away. Right after him, appeared James, panting, and with a wound on his left arm. Severus looked at him in horror.
"You...! You are...!"
"Yes" – James nodded. He was an Animagus.
"Why... why did you come after me?" Severus still couldn't believe what had just happened.
"It was a bad idea of Sirius. I had to stop you."
"And he is..."- Severus looked back at the tunnel entrance – "He is a werewolf!" he whispered.
"Yes, indeed" a calmed voice said.
They both looked around and saw Albus Dumbledore staring to them. Behind him was a really pale Sirius Black.
They were all standing in Prof. Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking at them through his middle-moon spectacles.
"Is that all you have to say?"
"Yes, Professor" – replied Sirius. "It was all my idea, so please, don't do anything to James or Remus..."
Dumbledore raised his right hand.
"It's ok, Sirius. I'm not going to expel you, nor your friends."
Sirius' face suddenly had the colors of life again. He was even blushing.
"Th... thank you, Professor... thank you very much!"
James looked at him; he thought he was just about to cry. Severus, in other hand, was just shocked. They were not to be expelled! How could this be? Severus looked at Dumbledore. He was staring at Sirius, then at James and then caught Severus' look. He took a specially long time when looking at the last one. Finally, he spoke.
"Severus... I assume you will understand that you cannot say a word about this to anyone in Hogwarts."
"But..."
"Please, understand, that there is a family worried for their child; they thought he would never be accepted in Hogwarts because of his condition, and the tunnel behind the Whomping Willow is the only way Remus Lupin can stay in Hogwarts. It was my idea to accept him and build the Shrieking Shack, to keep him apart of the rest of the students while transforming, and it was my idea to keep all this secret. So, if you reveal what happened tonight, you will not only destroy Remus' possibilities to finish his education, but you will also dare my authority and decisions."
Severus didn't say anything, but he nodded.
"Promise me, Severus."
"I... I promise, Professor Dumbledore..." Still, there was a bit of resentment in his voice. Dumbledore smiled.
"Severus.. Severus..." Dumbledore stood up smiling and softly patted Severus' back. "Ok. I think that's all. Go back to your common rooms, and remember: don't say a word about this. Oh, and James... I think you better go to the Hospital Wing..."
They left Dumbledore's office and walked together until they reached a staircase next to a corridor. Upstairs was the Hospital Wing. James and Sirius looked at Severus. James tried to smile, but Severus was way too confused, embarassed, annoyed, upset and quiet to smile back. They just walked upstairs, and Severus continued his way to the Slytherin common room. But then, he turned.
"Potter!"
James and Sirius looked back.
"I don't know if you did notice, but I didn't say a word about you being... what you are..."
"I did notice... and I thank you..."
"DON'T THANK ME!!"
And Severus headed to the Slytherin common room, leaving James and Sirius very confused.
"What... what was that?" –asked James.
"Don't pay attention to him... he's just upset because you just saved his life. I think he didn't say a word of you being and Animagus to Dumbledore because he was trying to pay you back, but he knows that's not enough... that's why he's so mad... Come on, let's go."
When James and Sirius entered the Gryffindor common room an hour later, after saying the password to the Fat Lady ("Lullaby!"), they found Lily and Peter sitting near the entrance, waiting for them. A bit far away was Eve, who looked very pale.
"James!" Lily shouted when she saw the boy. "What happened? Is everything OK?"
"It looks like everybody here already know what happened, eh, Sirius?" said James.
"I told them before I went and looked after Dumbledore. Actually, it was Lily who convinced me to do so..."
"How's Moony? Is he fine?" asked Peter.
"As fine as a werewolf can be..." whispered James. He noticed that Eve was sobbing. "Eve.. what... what happens?"
"It's my fault" she cried. "I told him... about the Whomping Willow and Remus, and Madame Pomfrey... it's all my fault..."
"What...?" James just didn't understand at all.
"Eve... well, she accidentaly told Snape that she saw Remus and Madame Pomfrey walking to the willow one day when he was supposed to go home and see his mother" said Lily. "But still, I will say it again, Eve; it was not your fault. Sirius' joke was a very bad idea, and Snape wouldn't have been able to discover Remus' secret if it wasn't for him..."
"That's true, Eve. I'm sorry I made you suffer. But see, James is fine...!" said Sirius, with a huge smile on his face.
"And Severus?"
"Wha... Snape?"
"Yes... what about him? Is he OK?"
"Well... yes... he didn't even get a bite from Remus, you know?"
Eve didn't say a word for a few moments. Then, she exploded.
"Just... HOW COULD YOU?"
She stood up and looked directly into Sirius' eyes, her eyes filled with tears. "You could have killed him!"
"Wha.... I ... I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!" shouted Sirius, with a look of horror in his face.
"What?" asked Eve.
"You like him!!!" replied Sirius, blushing furiously out of his anger.
"Nah!!!"
"YES, YOU DO!! How can this be? A Slytherin!! An enemy!! I thought you were our friend!!"
"Sirius, please calm down, you'll wake up the whole house" said Lily, trying to stop Sirius from shouting and starting a row in the common room at 1 AM.
"But she... she... she!!!" stammed Sirius.
"So what if she likes him? You can't command her heart, Marauder!" Now Lily was upset.
"I-DON'T-LIKE-HIM!!" said Eve, blushing as well. "It's just that I never thought Sirius would be able to do such horrible things!" And then she left to the girls dormitory, leaving a very upset Sirius being calmed down by James and Lily, and a very scared Peter looking at them from behind his chair.
Meanwhile, Severus was having some real hard time at the Slytherin common room. He went directly to bed, because nobody was waiting for him; it wasn't right according to the Slytherins rules to wait for a friend and see if he was OK. They just didn't care; and so, Severus didn't care either. But he did care about the humilliation. He had just been saved by James Potter, "James Potter!!!", he thought, and he would never, ever be able to pay him back. He was in debt with James Potter, and Severus Snape hated his new himself. Just before he fell asleep, Severus found himself thinking of Eve Hollow and her words... she was the one who told him about the Whomping Willow and Lupin... maybe everything was a trap. "Of course... she's their friend..."
The next day, everything seemed normal in Hogwarts, only that Remus Lupin wasn't there. Severus Snape had a horrible night, he had nightmares all the time, and woke up every hour remembering the events of last night; the werewolf, James Potter saving his life, then Dumbledore. When he finally woke up the next day at 7 AM, he just wanted to die rather than live with the humilliation. But he didn't die, and he just had to dress up and have some breakfast, and assist to classes as always. While walking to his Transfiguration class, he found himself right in front of Eve Hollow; she was waiting for him before he entered classes as always, only this time, he didn't say a word to her and just entered the classroom.
In the afternoon, Severus was avoiding Eve as much as he could; he just didn't want to talk to her, not even see her; to this point, he had convinced himself that the incident with Lupin was a trap of the Marauders, and she had helped them... but he wouldn't forget, nor forgive. Eve seemed to notice this, because she just disappeared the rest of the day.
Later in the evening, Severus was heading to the library; this was the worst day of his life, and all he wanted was to be completely alone. He knew most of the students would be heading to the Great Hall for dinner, so he decided to work in his homework far away from everybody while they were all eating. He was walking through a corridor when he heard soft steps behind him. He turned around, knowing what he was about to see; standing a few steps from him was Eve Hollow.
"What do you want, muggle?"
"I want to talk to you... to actually talk to you and explain some things..."
"There's nothing to explain. Now, leave me alone." He turned around and began walking again.
"Of course there are things to explain!"- Eve ran to Severus and faced him –"You really think I did it deliberately? It wasn't my intention to get you into trouble!..."
"No, of course not. Now, go away."
"But... but I was so worried!"
Severus stopped dead. He looked at her, staring into her eyes.
"Worried?"- he whispered –"Why would you worry about me?" Nobody had ever been worried about him; he didn't need anyone to be worried for him; he didn't want anyone worrying for him. "I think it's time to stop this, muggle. I don't believe a word of what you're saying. Your friends must be very happy, because you caught me off guard and fooled me. I don't even know how do you have the nerve to come and face me to say all this nonsense of you being worried about me... do yourself a favor, girl, and get lost."
Severus turned and walked again towards the library, going up a large staircase.
"I AM TELLING THE TRUTH! I WAS WORRIED FOR YOU! SEVERUS!!"
Eve ran after Severus, she was about to walk into the staircase, but then... it moved.
"Ahhhhh! HELP!!!"
Severus turned around just to find Eve hanging from the border of the moving staircase, just about to fall from the 5th floor of the castle.
"EVE!!"
Severus ran back and was just in time to catch Eve's hand before she fell down.
"Leave me alone!"- she cried. "I'm so stupid..." she thought. She was about to fall and die, and she was telling him to leave her alone.
"You... must... climb up!!"- Severus was right; the staircase was still moving, and it would crush Eve against another corridor in a few seconds. "CLIMB UP!!"
"Oh, what do you care if I get crushed?!"
"Yes, Severus, what do you care?"- he thought. "I don't care!!" he told to himself. "I don't care!"- he finally told her – "but I will be expelled if I don't save your muggle life!!"
He managed to help Eve get into the staircaise just in time, and she fell into his arms. They stood like that for a brief moment, panting and breathing heavily. The staircase finally stopped. Then, they realized that they were hugging. They moved apart from each other, blushing furiously. But Severus noticed that Eve was wounded on her right leg.
"You're wounded... you better go to the Hospital Wing."
"I'm fine. I will get going now..."
"You... need to calm down. You're way too impulsive; otherwise, you would have seen the staircase moving before running into it..."
"Oh, shut up..." Eve tried to stand up, to show Severus that her wound was nothing and that she was no impulsive girl, but her right leg really hurt, and she found herself sitting in the starcaise again in pain. Severus stared at her while she was complaining and whinning because her life sucked and she was wounded, and he didn't believe her, and she was still scared because she could have died, and many other things which sounded absolutely out of place.
"Silly..." he finally said, and to Eve's surprise, he raised her into his arms. She could have sworn that there was a slight smile on Severus' face while talking to her.
"Where...?"
"To the Hospital Wing, of course. And now, please, shut up."
Eve was in shock while Severus headed to the Hospital Wing with her in his arms. Did he call her "Eve" when she was in trouble? Was he actually smiling when he called her "silly"? And he was walking with her in his arms! Was she dreaming or what? But it was no dream...
On the other hand, Severus was telling himself all the way to the Hospital Wing that he didn't care at all about what could happen to Eve, trying to actually convince himself about that; but deep inside his head, he could hear a little voice, almost whispering, telling him that he was actually relieved after saving Eve's life. It was a weird feeling... it was like he actually cared for the little Gryffindor girl after all, but he just didn't know why. She was noisy, annoying, impulsive, naive... pity? Maybe that's why he felt like protecting her in that moment... maybe she was like a pity little animal in need for someone stronger to save her? "Yes, that must be the reason" he told to the little voice in his head.
Later, he would find out just how wrong he was.