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PATH to DARKNESS by Tyde
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Chapter Twelve – Trees A Crowd
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The giant squid swam lazily across the lake as Sev and Lil watched. They'd snuck out early to catch the sunrise and chat about the Potions final that day.
He wasn't quite sure how it happened, or how to explain it but suddenly Severus was leaning in to kiss her lips and she jerked back before he could even touch them. 'What the hell are you doing Severus Snape?'
Ouch, full name, guess I read the signals wrong. 'I-I-I just thought that, well, we were having a moment you know? You winked at me and I thought..'
'I had something in my eye Severus' Lily now stood with her hands on her hips and was staring him down. 'Why the hell were you going to kiss me?' Her embarrassment and anger were bubbling over and she had no idea what it was doing to the feelings of the poor boy.
'Cause..well cause I like you and I thought you liked me..and people kiss when they have feelings and I just..' He hung his head and mumbled into his chest 'Just forget it.'
Lily softened visibly and her heart reached out to him. 'Oh Sevi, I'm so sorry. I just..I don't feel about you that way. You're a great friend, we've been great friends, I just couldn't see it developing further. I'm really sorry.' She reached out to pat his shoulder but he brushed her hand aside.
'I have to go now' he said, devoid of emotion.
'Sevi wait, listen..I' she grabbed his arm and her touch burned him.
'Lil I just want to be alone okay, nothing you can say will make me feel like I haven't just made a giant dunderhead out of myself. Just let me go please.' Without another word he stalked back to the castle.
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He didn't talk to her all week. She tried to catch his eye in Potions but he just stared straight ahead and wrote down ingredients mechanically. His heart ached too much and he couldn't even bear to look at her. Over the next month his pain grew to mild hate and he glared at her in the hallways. She noticed this and whenever she tried to talk to him he shot her down with a mutter of 'bloody Gryffinflaw' before stalking off in the direction of the Slytherin common room. He had noticed her getting closer and close to James Potter and after a while he redirected his hatred towards the happy go lucky boy. His mission of catching the Gryffinflaws had been put aside for most of the year as he concentrated on studies. Also the Gryffinflaws had for the most part stayed away from Snape and hadn't teased him in at least 3 weeks. He was beginning to think there was something wrong with them all.
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'I can't understand it Lil. Why would you hang around with that greasy haired Slytherin anyway? Were the two of you friends or something?' Sirius Black's voice contained disbelief. James Potter nodded his head vigorously at his friends comment and added 'Yeah Lil, why?'
Around the corner a bewildered Snape leaned his ear closer so he could catch her comment.
'Puhlease' she said exasperated. 'Me and a slimey Slytherin, friends? You've got to be joking Sirius. I only hung out with him because he's really good at Potions. You've got to use what you can to get what you want, you know what I'm saying?' Her smile hid the pain of Severus not talking to her. If he was going to ignore her then she'd bloody well ignore him as well.
Sirius's laugh echoed down the hall and Snape could hear James and Remus joining in. 'Well it worked Lil, that's for sure. You've giving him a run for his money in the Potions final I heard.'
He peeked his head around the corner to see a scruffy looking Remus putting a protective arm around Lily and grinning like a mangy dog that had just stolen sausages from the local butcher and gotten away with it. He saw James was pointing his wand at Lily and saying something he couldn't hear. Lily looked at James for a few seconds before breaking into a smile and a hint of blush showed on her cheeks. Snape burst out from the adjacent corridor and stormed past their little group glaring at Lupin's arm still around Lily's shoulders and Potter whose wand was now back in his pocket. Sev felt like he'd just taken a dosage of pepperup potion, he was certain that steam was coming out of his ears. He mumbled under his breath 'I'll get you Potter and your little dog Lupin too.'
Something registered on Lily's face and she seemed to be in some sort of inner turmoil but the Slytherin didn't even notice. Her mind traced it's way back to that morning when Severus had tried to kiss her and how she had reacted. She'd been so horrible to him at first, no wonder he wasn't talking to her.
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'He was confunding her Quirrell! Right there in front of other law abiding Gryffindors. Him and that bloody Black were casting some illegal spell on her to besmirch me! Not to mention Lupin slobbering all over her. How dare they? My Lily would never go against me like that.' His clenched fists were by now a regular occurrence and he paced up and down their sleeping chamber.
Quirrell could see the thunder in his friend's eyes but some perverse part of him told him to speak up 'Severus, she's..ah, well she's not yours. Not your Lily, she's a Gryffindor..th-th-they don't mix well with Slytherins. It's been like that since forever.'
'Since when did you get an opinion you quivering little smeghead?' Snape snapped at his loyal friend. 'You wouldn't know the first thing about what Lily and I have. Why don't you just bugger off before I curse you from here to Brazil!' He realised that he was being irrational and mean but he was beyond caring at that moment. He didn't need to tell him twice and Slatero scrambled up the ladder as fast as his legs could carry him.
The urge to catch out the Gryffinflaws and have them expelled had never burned so deeply within him before and his stomach fluttered with excitement. Glancing out the tiny porthole window that graced one of their walls he saw the sun was just setting. They always snuck around at night time he knew because he'd heard them bragging about it many a time at breakfast. This time he'd catch them doing something really bad and certainly they'd be expelled or at least suspended. Lost in his thoughts he almost didn't notice a ragged looking Lupin racing across the school grounds towards the Whomping Willow.
'Whatever can he be doing?' he pondered out aloud. He made up his mind then and there to find out. Racing out of the Slytherin common room he ran straight into the face of Sirius Black.
'Watch where you are going!' he growled.
'I could say the same thing about you. What the hell are you doing down here near my common room.'
'I was actually coming to find you Severus' It was the first time Black had called him by his first name and not said Severarse. He actually seemed rather nice. Instantly Snape was suspicious. 'Why?' he said narrowing his eyes
'Did you see Lupin sleazing onto Lily this afternoon?' Snape nodded wondering where this was leading. 'Well he's got designs on her and he's been enchanting her with a love potion.'
'WHAT?'
'Yeah. And after dinner tonight he lead her away somewhere out of grounds and we can't find her anywhere. He seemed a little crazed today, not quite right in the head or something. I'm worried Snape, have you seen Lupin at all?' Sirius had a look of great concern on his face and Snape felt his heart drop to his stomach. Lupin had Lily somewhere and he was probably planning something evil.
'As a matter of fact I did, he was running across the grounds towards the Whomping Willow and then he just disappeared. He looked rather pleased with himself too.'
'Oh Merlin! There is a passageway under the Whomping Willow that leads into Hogsmeade, he must have her stashed away there. Listen Snape you wait in the Entrance Hall and I'll go and grab James's invisibility cloak so we can sneak up to the tree without it seeing us. Lupin must know a spell that stops it pounding you, I've heard there is a knot in trees like those that if you push it, it will stop beating about but I'm not too sure. Okay, so I'll see you in the Entrance Hall, right?' Sirius looked genuinely concerned and Snape believed him.
'Right' said Snape with no intention at all of waiting for Black. He'd had his suspicions about Lupin, always disappearing at night through out the year, he was up to something bad that was for sure and this time Lily was in danger!
Sirius Black ran down the corridor towards the stairs leading up to the main hall with a grin from ear to ear. The trap was set. That'll teach him he thought. Gryffindors and Slytherin aren't supposed to mix. What a fright he'll get.
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James sighed. He'd been trying at this homework assignment for the past hour and it wasn't getting him anywhere. He knew Sirius was good at Arithmacy so he pulled out the Marauder's Map to find his friend. He noticed that Black was coming up from the dungeons. He frowned. What a weird place to be. He then noticed not far from the Sirius Black dot was a dot that was scurrying across the grounds towards the Whomping Willow. The dot was labelled Severus Snape. James saw that a Remus Lupin dot was not off the map as it should be but hovering in the tunnel that lead to the Shrieking Shack. Severus Snape was just metres away from certain death. An invisibility cloak covered Prongs burst through the portrait hole and galloped through Hogwarts hallways as fast as his hooves could carry him. He streaked out towards the vicious tree just as the dot on the map indicated Snape was at the Whomping Willow and poking at knots in the tree with a long stick. As the branches stopped James saw Snape step into the hole at the base of the trunk. This could be bad.
Morphing back into himself and throwing the cloak to the wayside James leap into the passageway and grabbed Snape by the back of the robes pulling him through the hole and back onto solid Hogwarts ground. As the hole was closing up Snape saw to his horror a werewolf's eyes glittering with the light of the moon and a foaming mouth dripping with anticipation. A Gryffindor tie was hanging around his neck. James quickly pummelled the knot in the tree just as the Whomping Willow was about to start up again. He hoisted a shocked Snape onto his shoulders and dragging the invisibility cloak behind him he headed up towards the main entrance door. After a little while Severus suddenly regained control of his mouth and he started pounding James on the back with his fists.
'Put me DOWN!' he screamed. 'NOW!'
James put the squirming teenager down and looked at him with disbelief. 'I just saved your life. I don't expect roses and chocolates but a thank you would be nice.'
'Saved my life? Thanks? Are you joking? You probably set the whole thing up, you, Black and Lupin.' Snape spat.
'You leave Lupin out of this, he couldn't help being a part of it. What possessed you to go down into the passageway anyway? Dumbledore planted that tree for a reason.'
'And a bloody good reason I see now as it's filled with werewolf students! I knew there was something I never trusted about him. Sneaky little mudblood.'
James's eyes grew wide at this. 'Don't you use that word in front of me. He can't help being bitten by a werewolf. I would have thought you of all people would never stoop so low as to use that word, after all your precious friend Lily is one.'
'Lily!' Snape suddenly remembered what Black had told him. 'She's..Lupin..' it started to dawn on him. 'She's probably safely tucked up in bed...am I right? That smegging bastard.'
'What are you muttering about Snape?'
'Black..he said that Lupin had taken Lily and no one could find her. He told me to meet him at the Entrance Hall and he'd get your invisibility cloak and we could sneak under the tree. The bastard set me up to get killed!' He was livid now. 'That little git Pettigrew was probably in on it too. You Gryffinflaws have tortured me the entire time we've been at Hogwarts. Were you getting sick of it, huh? Did you just want something to tie up the loose ends? How could I have been sorted into Slytherin when you are clearly a dark wizard James Potter.' A hand rested on his shoulder and Snape spun around with wand pulled ready to curse a gloating Sirius Black but instead found himself face to face with a grave looking Dumbledore.
'James, Severus I think it's time we have a little talk in my office. Follow me. Sirius is already there waiting.'
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Snape was beside himself that Dumbledore had believed James's version of things. Snape was adamant that James had known, how else would he have been able to turn up when he did if he wasn't wondering around the school getting up to mischief. Black had been suspended for a month and Snape felt a lot safer knowing that he wasn't around. Lupin was given no punishment as he had nothing to do with it and Snape ached to tell the whole school what Remus was but Dumbledore had sworn him to secrecy and warned that should he tell anybody – even an owl – that he would be expelled and never allowed admission into any wizardry school in the world.
All Lily heard was that James had saved Severus's life and was pleased that at least her Gryffindor friends could become friends with her Slytherin friend. However this wasn't to happen as Snape seemed to hate James and the others even more. She couldn't figure him out and resigned to put him in her past and remember the good times for what they were. Snape of course refused her conclusion to things and would send her morning owls for the rest of the year and pine for her across the Great Hall. She would send back firm 'no' answers to his enquiries about studying in the library and reiterated that she thought it was best that they simply remember the happy times and move on. Severus just promised himself that he wouldn't let Lily Evans slip through his clutches. What he didn't realise that James and Lily being prefects that year had forced them to spend a lot more time together and the spark of something was struck. Severus's hopes of getting through that bond would be fruitless. Snape was also destined to have a very interesting summer, not one that would wipe Lily from his memory completely but one that would put her on the back burner...for a while at least.
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Author's note: Yay, finally after two weeks of sitting on my computer I get to post this chapter. It literally just flowed from my fingers this one unlike the last two which were quite hard to write. Is there anybody out there? Just a hello in the review section would be nice :o)