It all started with a Pensieve
Chapter Three
"Harry? Are you paying any attention?" Hermione's inquisitive voice broke Harry out of his stupor. "You've been so out of it lately. Is anything up?" Hermione quizzes her friend, at the dinner table. The Great Hall is as loud as it always is, and the three friends sit, at the far corner of the Gryffindor table, watching the Slytherins nervously.
"No, I'm fine," Harry states, emotionlessly, turning his attention once again to the faculty table. Snape sits near the left side, chatting idly with Sprout, probably about some potion, in Harry's opinion. 'How can he act so normal?' Is the predominant question on Harry's mind. Of course, he also reminds himself again, that he has been living with all this for what? Twenty years? Harry supposed he must have gotten rather used to it by now.
"Harry, you're doing it again," Hermione points out, once again bringing him out of his daze. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asks again.
"I'm fine." Harry is beginning to get a little ticked with all the questions.
"Look!" Ron said motioning to where Malfoy was sitting. He took a drink of his pumpkin juice, and put the glass back down. "He drank it! I can't believe he drank it!" Ron exclaimed loudly, being shushed by Hermione.
"How long will the potion take?" Harry finally joins the conversation with an inquiry.
"Only a few minutes. He'll be a girl in no time," Hermione giggles, sadistically, as does Ron.
"This will be too good. I think we deserve thousands of points for this one, that's for sure." Ron is practically giddy with excitement.
"I think it's starting," Hermione adds. The group falls silent and watches quietly, as Malfoy clutches his stomach, looking slightly nauseas.
"Yeah, that can happen, when you dick is shriveling up," Ron says, nonchalantly. Hermione looks mortified.
"Don't put it that way, Ron!" She suppresses a shriek, and is about to add to that when Malfoy gets up from his seat and runs from the Great Hall. "Come on, let's follow." And with that the three Gryffindores ran from the room, leaving the rest of the students and professors, slightly confused.
"Where do you think he went?" Asked Ron, looking around. Hermione said nothing, but listened for any sound of movement.
"Let's try the boy's toilets." She suggested. The three friends charged at the closest washroom, finding none other then Draco Malfoy, leaning over the sink, and holding his gut.
"Hey, Malfoy," Ron drawled, trying to calm the case of the giggles he had. "Nice boobs." Harry, and even Hermione, who was trying to stop the laughter, howled at his comment.
"You did this!" He accused.
"How'd you guess?" Harry asked, seeing that Malfoy's hair began to grow at the ends, falling down his back.
"You'll be arrested for this, Potter," Draco threatened, still clutching his stomach.
"We looked it up, Malfoy. It's perfectly legal." Hermione, and her know it all self claims.
"I think Gryffindores winning so far," Ron, still can't shake the laughter.
"You'll pay for this, Potter," Malfoy declares stalking out of the bathroom. The three Gryffindores laugh hysterically, unable to stop, for the better part of a minute.
"Merlin, did you see his face?" Ron asks, as they head back up to the common room. "He, I mean she, will have trouble explaining this, I think."
"How long will it last anyway?" Harry inquires to Hermione.
"Only three days sadly, but at least it's better then known. And I don't think the professors will let him not attend classes when he's not in any pain." She answers.
"Knowing Snape, Malfoy won't show his face at all." Ron sighs, gloomily. "Oh well, it was still worth it, just to see Malfoy as a girl."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry woke up from another one of his dreams. They had just started recently, but they were the worst nightmares he had ever had, by far. It was strange, really. He had dreams of Voldemort torturing people, hunting for himself, and even killing innocent children, but there was something all too familiar in these dreams.
They were of Snape. It varied what happened to him. Sometimes it was Snape's father, beating him and yelling horrible things at him. Sometimes it was his own Godfather and father doing similar things. He always woke up feeling ill, and dirty, as if he was peering into a world that didn't belong to him, he supposed in a way he sort of was. But regardless of the guilt, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his potion's professor. He was sure there was to him that what he had already saw, and he intended on finding out about it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning proved to be quite interesting. It was in their first class, Herbology with the Slytherins, that Malfoy showed up. In the Great Hall, when checking the point system, it showed that Gryffindor was winning by even more, for obvious reasons.
Malfoy sauntered in, looking at the ground, as all of Gryffindor broke out laughing. It had gotten around the previous night what had happened, but only Harry, Hermione, Ron, and many of the Slytherins had seen him.
His, or shall we shall her hair was lengthy and down Malfoy's back and tied into a ponytail, with a silver clasp. Malfoy's robes were rather snug around 'his' chest, and it seemed he walked with slight discomfort.
For the rest of Herbology all the Slytherins shot daggers at the Gryffindor trio, also shooting hexes when Professor Sprout wasn't looking. By the end of their classes, Ron was sporting a bloody nose, and Hermione had finished burping bubbles.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a stupid idea, really. Why Harry was sneaking down to the dungeons, and to Snape's own chambers, no less, in the middle of the night, when the occupant of said rooms was probably sleeping in them, was beyond Harry.
The trek to the dungeon was much the same. Filch was conveniently distracted by Peeves on the seventh floor, and anyone else who needed to be watched for was in their respective dormitories or chambers.
Harry, casting a silencing charm over himself and hid under his father's old cloak, spoke the password to Snape's chambers and entered.
Harry, not being able to turn on a light, fumbled his way over to the Pensieve, not seeing any sign of Snape. He kept his cloak on as he touched the dark water's surface and left Snape's room.
He landed on wooden tiles. It was dark, much darker then it had been in Snape's quarters. Harry stands up properly, wondering where he is. The floor beneath him is wood, as are the walls, but to where he could possibly be is not known to him. That's when a small glimmer of light, from a long ways off shows. Harry charges towards it, finding that he's in a tunnel, with narrow corridors. Then a voice breaks the silence, "Remus, are you in here?" It's Snape. He's holding a lighted torch, providing little light. Harry steps closer. He must be about his age, probably seventeen, sixteen at the youngest. His face is a jumble of nervousness. He calls out again. "Remus?" His voice a little more shaken. Snape continues walking down the hallway and Harry follows.
Harry walks beside him, watching him closely, observing him. His face is illuminated in the torchlight, and Harry can't help but find it at least a little attractive. He's much the same as he is now, but younger. Some of the stress marks and wrinkles have vanished, leaving smooth skin where they were.
"Remus, are you even in here?" His voice quivers nervously. That's when it all clicks into place in Harry's mind. This was the shrieking shack. Snape was going to be attacked.
"You've got to get out of here!" Harry jostles him roughly, but as he knew it would, it has no effect. Snape keeps walking, oblivious to Harry's complaints and pleadings. That's when a barreling sound, like heavy footsteps stampeding down stairs is heard, further down the tunnel.
Snape stops in his tracks, but doesn't turn back to run in the opposite direction. The noise gets nearer and nearer, and Harry braces himself for what he knows is about to happen. A wolf, huge and intense comes charging, at full speed, into view. Harry looks at Snape's panic stricken face, and tries to pull him away.
The wolf leaps on top of Snape, pulling him to the ground, with a pained scream, as Harry sees the werewolf's claws dig into his flesh. A burst of light, followed closely by another comes from the direction of the entrance. The werewolf, doubles back, clearly hit by whatever threw it. Another figure comes into Harry's view. It's his father. Down to the last detail, save from his eyes and the lack of scar of his forehead, it's him.
Harry's father grabs Snape, roughly pulling him to his feet, regardless of the hoarse cry of pain. James sends a few more jets of light flying back at the wolf; dragging a weakened Snape back, out into the schoolyards. Once the crisis has been diverted, James drops Snape onto the grass, and Harry sees just how much blood a werewolf's claws can cause to flow.
Snape's entire chest is covered in it, seeping through the torn robes. Harry kneels down to Snape's form, which is gasping for air, barely breathing. Harry looks back up at his father. "I just did this so Remus won't get expelled. You can get yourself back to the Hospital Wing." And with a roll of his eyes, Harry's grand, hero dad, leaves Snape covered in blood and dieing.
Harry, panicked and shaking tries to get Snape to stand, but it's no use. "Come on, Snape. Just get up already." Snape begins to gasp for air more violently, and Harry starts to lose it. "Just stand up, you're gonna die if you don't, come one." Whether it be Harry's nagging or, simply how it happened, Snape weakly forced himself up, doubling in pain from the blood loss in his chest and stumbles into the castle. Harry notices his leaving a trail of blood behind him, but he could care less at the moment. Before he knows what he's doing, Harry has his arms wrapped tightly around him, trying to hold him up, which apparently isn't working.
Only halfway to the Hospital Wing, Snape drops down, clutching his bloodied chest, which refuses to stop bleeding, and cries weakly. There was no way he was going to make it up any more flights of stairs. Harry nudges him up, but he doesn't obey. Then something, running down, very fast I might add, comes charging through the hallway, and stops at Snape.
"Oh, Merlin! Severus are you alright?" It was Draco, or at least he looked like Draco. Harry knew in fact it must have been Lucius Malfoy. "God, when I ran into Black he said you'd be pretty roughed up, but Merlin, this isn't quite what I was expecting." His voice is in a blind panic, something Harry wouldn't have expected from Lucius Malfoy. "Try to stand up, I'm getting you to the hospital wing." He commands, gently pulling Snape up. A spluttering cry from Snape, tells him he's hurt him.
"It hurts so much, Luc," Snape was babbling, clutching onto Malfoy for dear life. That's when the coughing started. Lucius rubbed Snape's back as cough after cough raked through Snape's frame. Then Harry noticed he was coughing something up. Blood. "Luc, oh Merlin." Lucius saw too, and held Snape closer.
"We have to go now." Lucius, understanding Snape wasn't going to be able to walk, even with help, picked up Snape, so Snape's head rested on his shoulder, and his legs were wrapped weakly around his waist. Snape was pretty small, and Lucius did seem to have some muscles, so all in all, Harry guessed that Lucius wasn't straining himself.
Lucius carried him higher into the castle, trying to keep Snape calm at the same time. "It's okay, just close your eyes and try to rest. We're almost there." Lucius told him, and to Harry's surprise, Snape did.
At seemed like the longest trip to the hospital wing Harry had ever experienced. When Lucius did get there, he dumped a semi-conscious Snape gently onto the nearest bed and called for Madam Pomfrey. She arrived from a backroom, Harry assuming there her chambers, and instructed to Malfoy to leave this instant. He refused. Flat out and simple, he told her he wasn't leaving him, and that she'd just have to work around him. And, once again, surprising Harry, she didn't say no.
Pomfrey cast a series of spells and gave Snape more potions then Harry had thought one person could handle. Bandages were magicked around him, and Pomfrey permitted Malfoy to stay the rest of the night with him. "Only because he needs to be watched." She had said, seriously.
So Malfoy stayed, for a long while nothing happened. Madam Pomfrey had returned to her chambers, and Harry sat watching Malfoy watch Snape. A few minutes, or was it a few hours later, Harry had lost track of the time, Snape began to wake. "Morning sunshine," Malfoy greeted, sarcastically. Snape's weakly opened eyes scanned the room, finally settling on the blond headed boy.
"What the fuck happened? I feel like I've been run over." Harry winces slightly at hearing his own professor swear.
"I think you might have been. Remember anything about the shrieking shack?" Questioned Malfoy. A look of absolute fear climbs over Snape's face. He was remembering what had happened. Malfoy saw his discomfort and moved over from the bed he was sitting on, opposite him. "Hey, it's okay," He said, placing a gentle hand on Snape's shoulder, and sitting next to him. "It's over and I wouldn't be surprised to see Black and Potter expelled from the school, anyway." Snape allows a small smile to play over his lips.
"That would be nice." His voice is still sore, but it still can produce a slightly skewed sound.
"Why'd you go down there anyway? I was going back to the dormitory when I ran into Black. He said that you'd be pretty roughed up by the willow tree. And that he'd tricked you into going down there, and that there was some sort of creature. You're not stupid, Sev. Why the hell were you down there in the first place?" Lucius tells Snape, rubbing slow circles on his back, and propping him up, so he laid up against him.
"I don't want to talk about, Luc," He states plainly, looking down at the white linen sheets on the bed.
"You sure?" Lucius prompts again. "I won't care what it's about, Sev, you know that." Lucius says quietly, wrapping his arms around him from behind. "Besides, you should tell someone, get it off your chest." Lucius sounded strangely soft.
"You won't like it," Snape tells him.
"Probably not, but it's not your fault." Lucius sounds almost sincere, actually, Harry admits to himself, completely sincere.
"Sirius told me something about Remus." Snape divulges, hastily.
"I can't believe you fell for it, Snape," Lucius sneers, but then his voice goes calmer. "I don't even see what you like about that poor freak."
"He's not a freak, well, I guess he is," Severus' voice goes quiet at the end, pondering over something.
"What do you mean, Sev?" Lucius asks him.
"He's a werewolf, Luc. He tried to bit me. I guess that every full moon they lock him in the shrieking shack, and Black thought it would be funny to see me get bitten." It looked to Harry that Snape was almost going to cry, but decided not to, in time.
"Don't worry Sev, by tomorrow everyone will know. And even if that fool Dumbledore doesn't want to kick him out, he'll get so many letters from parents that he'll be forced to." Lucius tightens his grip on Snape, and the wounded boy snuggles deeper against Lucius' body, turning his around, so that his face is buried in Lucius' shoulder. "Try to sleep, Sev. It'll be a little better in the morning, I promise." Lucius looks down at Severus and kisses his hair, sweetly, and puts his head against the pillow and closes his own eyes.
"Thanks for understanding, Luc." Snape's voice can barely be heard to Harry, who feels the pull of being forced away from this scene.
Harry lands back in Snape's chambers, still covered in his invisibility cloak, wanting to see more, but knowing it's too late. He makes his way out of Snape's chambers, and back through the dungeons, wondering, the whole time, what it was Sirius had told Snape about Lupin to get him to go down there. Harry decided that the next morning he was going to have to write his Godfather a letter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
YAHOO!!! Third chapter is up! I feel so accomplished! Anyway I think I really like this chapter. I don't why, but something about the shrieking shack incident always intrigued me, so I decided to do my own take on it. Anyway please leave a little review for me to read, because I just crave attention. The next one should be up some time soon.!
Chapter Three
"Harry? Are you paying any attention?" Hermione's inquisitive voice broke Harry out of his stupor. "You've been so out of it lately. Is anything up?" Hermione quizzes her friend, at the dinner table. The Great Hall is as loud as it always is, and the three friends sit, at the far corner of the Gryffindor table, watching the Slytherins nervously.
"No, I'm fine," Harry states, emotionlessly, turning his attention once again to the faculty table. Snape sits near the left side, chatting idly with Sprout, probably about some potion, in Harry's opinion. 'How can he act so normal?' Is the predominant question on Harry's mind. Of course, he also reminds himself again, that he has been living with all this for what? Twenty years? Harry supposed he must have gotten rather used to it by now.
"Harry, you're doing it again," Hermione points out, once again bringing him out of his daze. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asks again.
"I'm fine." Harry is beginning to get a little ticked with all the questions.
"Look!" Ron said motioning to where Malfoy was sitting. He took a drink of his pumpkin juice, and put the glass back down. "He drank it! I can't believe he drank it!" Ron exclaimed loudly, being shushed by Hermione.
"How long will the potion take?" Harry finally joins the conversation with an inquiry.
"Only a few minutes. He'll be a girl in no time," Hermione giggles, sadistically, as does Ron.
"This will be too good. I think we deserve thousands of points for this one, that's for sure." Ron is practically giddy with excitement.
"I think it's starting," Hermione adds. The group falls silent and watches quietly, as Malfoy clutches his stomach, looking slightly nauseas.
"Yeah, that can happen, when you dick is shriveling up," Ron says, nonchalantly. Hermione looks mortified.
"Don't put it that way, Ron!" She suppresses a shriek, and is about to add to that when Malfoy gets up from his seat and runs from the Great Hall. "Come on, let's follow." And with that the three Gryffindores ran from the room, leaving the rest of the students and professors, slightly confused.
"Where do you think he went?" Asked Ron, looking around. Hermione said nothing, but listened for any sound of movement.
"Let's try the boy's toilets." She suggested. The three friends charged at the closest washroom, finding none other then Draco Malfoy, leaning over the sink, and holding his gut.
"Hey, Malfoy," Ron drawled, trying to calm the case of the giggles he had. "Nice boobs." Harry, and even Hermione, who was trying to stop the laughter, howled at his comment.
"You did this!" He accused.
"How'd you guess?" Harry asked, seeing that Malfoy's hair began to grow at the ends, falling down his back.
"You'll be arrested for this, Potter," Draco threatened, still clutching his stomach.
"We looked it up, Malfoy. It's perfectly legal." Hermione, and her know it all self claims.
"I think Gryffindores winning so far," Ron, still can't shake the laughter.
"You'll pay for this, Potter," Malfoy declares stalking out of the bathroom. The three Gryffindores laugh hysterically, unable to stop, for the better part of a minute.
"Merlin, did you see his face?" Ron asks, as they head back up to the common room. "He, I mean she, will have trouble explaining this, I think."
"How long will it last anyway?" Harry inquires to Hermione.
"Only three days sadly, but at least it's better then known. And I don't think the professors will let him not attend classes when he's not in any pain." She answers.
"Knowing Snape, Malfoy won't show his face at all." Ron sighs, gloomily. "Oh well, it was still worth it, just to see Malfoy as a girl."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry woke up from another one of his dreams. They had just started recently, but they were the worst nightmares he had ever had, by far. It was strange, really. He had dreams of Voldemort torturing people, hunting for himself, and even killing innocent children, but there was something all too familiar in these dreams.
They were of Snape. It varied what happened to him. Sometimes it was Snape's father, beating him and yelling horrible things at him. Sometimes it was his own Godfather and father doing similar things. He always woke up feeling ill, and dirty, as if he was peering into a world that didn't belong to him, he supposed in a way he sort of was. But regardless of the guilt, he couldn't help but feel sorry for his potion's professor. He was sure there was to him that what he had already saw, and he intended on finding out about it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning proved to be quite interesting. It was in their first class, Herbology with the Slytherins, that Malfoy showed up. In the Great Hall, when checking the point system, it showed that Gryffindor was winning by even more, for obvious reasons.
Malfoy sauntered in, looking at the ground, as all of Gryffindor broke out laughing. It had gotten around the previous night what had happened, but only Harry, Hermione, Ron, and many of the Slytherins had seen him.
His, or shall we shall her hair was lengthy and down Malfoy's back and tied into a ponytail, with a silver clasp. Malfoy's robes were rather snug around 'his' chest, and it seemed he walked with slight discomfort.
For the rest of Herbology all the Slytherins shot daggers at the Gryffindor trio, also shooting hexes when Professor Sprout wasn't looking. By the end of their classes, Ron was sporting a bloody nose, and Hermione had finished burping bubbles.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a stupid idea, really. Why Harry was sneaking down to the dungeons, and to Snape's own chambers, no less, in the middle of the night, when the occupant of said rooms was probably sleeping in them, was beyond Harry.
The trek to the dungeon was much the same. Filch was conveniently distracted by Peeves on the seventh floor, and anyone else who needed to be watched for was in their respective dormitories or chambers.
Harry, casting a silencing charm over himself and hid under his father's old cloak, spoke the password to Snape's chambers and entered.
Harry, not being able to turn on a light, fumbled his way over to the Pensieve, not seeing any sign of Snape. He kept his cloak on as he touched the dark water's surface and left Snape's room.
He landed on wooden tiles. It was dark, much darker then it had been in Snape's quarters. Harry stands up properly, wondering where he is. The floor beneath him is wood, as are the walls, but to where he could possibly be is not known to him. That's when a small glimmer of light, from a long ways off shows. Harry charges towards it, finding that he's in a tunnel, with narrow corridors. Then a voice breaks the silence, "Remus, are you in here?" It's Snape. He's holding a lighted torch, providing little light. Harry steps closer. He must be about his age, probably seventeen, sixteen at the youngest. His face is a jumble of nervousness. He calls out again. "Remus?" His voice a little more shaken. Snape continues walking down the hallway and Harry follows.
Harry walks beside him, watching him closely, observing him. His face is illuminated in the torchlight, and Harry can't help but find it at least a little attractive. He's much the same as he is now, but younger. Some of the stress marks and wrinkles have vanished, leaving smooth skin where they were.
"Remus, are you even in here?" His voice quivers nervously. That's when it all clicks into place in Harry's mind. This was the shrieking shack. Snape was going to be attacked.
"You've got to get out of here!" Harry jostles him roughly, but as he knew it would, it has no effect. Snape keeps walking, oblivious to Harry's complaints and pleadings. That's when a barreling sound, like heavy footsteps stampeding down stairs is heard, further down the tunnel.
Snape stops in his tracks, but doesn't turn back to run in the opposite direction. The noise gets nearer and nearer, and Harry braces himself for what he knows is about to happen. A wolf, huge and intense comes charging, at full speed, into view. Harry looks at Snape's panic stricken face, and tries to pull him away.
The wolf leaps on top of Snape, pulling him to the ground, with a pained scream, as Harry sees the werewolf's claws dig into his flesh. A burst of light, followed closely by another comes from the direction of the entrance. The werewolf, doubles back, clearly hit by whatever threw it. Another figure comes into Harry's view. It's his father. Down to the last detail, save from his eyes and the lack of scar of his forehead, it's him.
Harry's father grabs Snape, roughly pulling him to his feet, regardless of the hoarse cry of pain. James sends a few more jets of light flying back at the wolf; dragging a weakened Snape back, out into the schoolyards. Once the crisis has been diverted, James drops Snape onto the grass, and Harry sees just how much blood a werewolf's claws can cause to flow.
Snape's entire chest is covered in it, seeping through the torn robes. Harry kneels down to Snape's form, which is gasping for air, barely breathing. Harry looks back up at his father. "I just did this so Remus won't get expelled. You can get yourself back to the Hospital Wing." And with a roll of his eyes, Harry's grand, hero dad, leaves Snape covered in blood and dieing.
Harry, panicked and shaking tries to get Snape to stand, but it's no use. "Come on, Snape. Just get up already." Snape begins to gasp for air more violently, and Harry starts to lose it. "Just stand up, you're gonna die if you don't, come one." Whether it be Harry's nagging or, simply how it happened, Snape weakly forced himself up, doubling in pain from the blood loss in his chest and stumbles into the castle. Harry notices his leaving a trail of blood behind him, but he could care less at the moment. Before he knows what he's doing, Harry has his arms wrapped tightly around him, trying to hold him up, which apparently isn't working.
Only halfway to the Hospital Wing, Snape drops down, clutching his bloodied chest, which refuses to stop bleeding, and cries weakly. There was no way he was going to make it up any more flights of stairs. Harry nudges him up, but he doesn't obey. Then something, running down, very fast I might add, comes charging through the hallway, and stops at Snape.
"Oh, Merlin! Severus are you alright?" It was Draco, or at least he looked like Draco. Harry knew in fact it must have been Lucius Malfoy. "God, when I ran into Black he said you'd be pretty roughed up, but Merlin, this isn't quite what I was expecting." His voice is in a blind panic, something Harry wouldn't have expected from Lucius Malfoy. "Try to stand up, I'm getting you to the hospital wing." He commands, gently pulling Snape up. A spluttering cry from Snape, tells him he's hurt him.
"It hurts so much, Luc," Snape was babbling, clutching onto Malfoy for dear life. That's when the coughing started. Lucius rubbed Snape's back as cough after cough raked through Snape's frame. Then Harry noticed he was coughing something up. Blood. "Luc, oh Merlin." Lucius saw too, and held Snape closer.
"We have to go now." Lucius, understanding Snape wasn't going to be able to walk, even with help, picked up Snape, so Snape's head rested on his shoulder, and his legs were wrapped weakly around his waist. Snape was pretty small, and Lucius did seem to have some muscles, so all in all, Harry guessed that Lucius wasn't straining himself.
Lucius carried him higher into the castle, trying to keep Snape calm at the same time. "It's okay, just close your eyes and try to rest. We're almost there." Lucius told him, and to Harry's surprise, Snape did.
At seemed like the longest trip to the hospital wing Harry had ever experienced. When Lucius did get there, he dumped a semi-conscious Snape gently onto the nearest bed and called for Madam Pomfrey. She arrived from a backroom, Harry assuming there her chambers, and instructed to Malfoy to leave this instant. He refused. Flat out and simple, he told her he wasn't leaving him, and that she'd just have to work around him. And, once again, surprising Harry, she didn't say no.
Pomfrey cast a series of spells and gave Snape more potions then Harry had thought one person could handle. Bandages were magicked around him, and Pomfrey permitted Malfoy to stay the rest of the night with him. "Only because he needs to be watched." She had said, seriously.
So Malfoy stayed, for a long while nothing happened. Madam Pomfrey had returned to her chambers, and Harry sat watching Malfoy watch Snape. A few minutes, or was it a few hours later, Harry had lost track of the time, Snape began to wake. "Morning sunshine," Malfoy greeted, sarcastically. Snape's weakly opened eyes scanned the room, finally settling on the blond headed boy.
"What the fuck happened? I feel like I've been run over." Harry winces slightly at hearing his own professor swear.
"I think you might have been. Remember anything about the shrieking shack?" Questioned Malfoy. A look of absolute fear climbs over Snape's face. He was remembering what had happened. Malfoy saw his discomfort and moved over from the bed he was sitting on, opposite him. "Hey, it's okay," He said, placing a gentle hand on Snape's shoulder, and sitting next to him. "It's over and I wouldn't be surprised to see Black and Potter expelled from the school, anyway." Snape allows a small smile to play over his lips.
"That would be nice." His voice is still sore, but it still can produce a slightly skewed sound.
"Why'd you go down there anyway? I was going back to the dormitory when I ran into Black. He said that you'd be pretty roughed up by the willow tree. And that he'd tricked you into going down there, and that there was some sort of creature. You're not stupid, Sev. Why the hell were you down there in the first place?" Lucius tells Snape, rubbing slow circles on his back, and propping him up, so he laid up against him.
"I don't want to talk about, Luc," He states plainly, looking down at the white linen sheets on the bed.
"You sure?" Lucius prompts again. "I won't care what it's about, Sev, you know that." Lucius says quietly, wrapping his arms around him from behind. "Besides, you should tell someone, get it off your chest." Lucius sounded strangely soft.
"You won't like it," Snape tells him.
"Probably not, but it's not your fault." Lucius sounds almost sincere, actually, Harry admits to himself, completely sincere.
"Sirius told me something about Remus." Snape divulges, hastily.
"I can't believe you fell for it, Snape," Lucius sneers, but then his voice goes calmer. "I don't even see what you like about that poor freak."
"He's not a freak, well, I guess he is," Severus' voice goes quiet at the end, pondering over something.
"What do you mean, Sev?" Lucius asks him.
"He's a werewolf, Luc. He tried to bit me. I guess that every full moon they lock him in the shrieking shack, and Black thought it would be funny to see me get bitten." It looked to Harry that Snape was almost going to cry, but decided not to, in time.
"Don't worry Sev, by tomorrow everyone will know. And even if that fool Dumbledore doesn't want to kick him out, he'll get so many letters from parents that he'll be forced to." Lucius tightens his grip on Snape, and the wounded boy snuggles deeper against Lucius' body, turning his around, so that his face is buried in Lucius' shoulder. "Try to sleep, Sev. It'll be a little better in the morning, I promise." Lucius looks down at Severus and kisses his hair, sweetly, and puts his head against the pillow and closes his own eyes.
"Thanks for understanding, Luc." Snape's voice can barely be heard to Harry, who feels the pull of being forced away from this scene.
Harry lands back in Snape's chambers, still covered in his invisibility cloak, wanting to see more, but knowing it's too late. He makes his way out of Snape's chambers, and back through the dungeons, wondering, the whole time, what it was Sirius had told Snape about Lupin to get him to go down there. Harry decided that the next morning he was going to have to write his Godfather a letter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
YAHOO!!! Third chapter is up! I feel so accomplished! Anyway I think I really like this chapter. I don't why, but something about the shrieking shack incident always intrigued me, so I decided to do my own take on it. Anyway please leave a little review for me to read, because I just crave attention. The next one should be up some time soon.!