It only took an instant for Remus to remember why these places were called rainforests. It had been clear and peaceful only moments ago, but then the sky had suddenly darkened with thick black clouds and within seconds, it had started raining.
Speaking loudly over the sound of rain hitting the nearby river, Sirius grumbled. "I thought rainforest canopies would shield the rain. I think it's coming down from under the leaves, not from above them."
"Oh stop complaining, Black." Severus snapped, "Rain won't kill you... Unless we drown."
"Well, if it gets that bad, we're using your corpse as a raft." Sirius retorted, sneering.
"What makes you think I'll be the one to die first?" Severus snarled viciously,
"Besides, with all the hot air in your head, you'd float much better than I would."
Remus shook his head as the two snapped and snarled at each other like dogs. Shielding his eyes against the increasingly vicious rainfall, Remus strained to hear what Severus and Sirius were shouting, but found that the sound of raindrops striking the leaves drowned out their voices completely. It seemed the more heated the argument became, the worse the storm was.
"Stop!" Remus cried out, "The storm is getting worse! You're making it worse!" But it was to no avail. Streaks of lightning flashed across the violet sky, filling the jungle with light. Remus winced against the enormous thunderclap that rattled his eardrums as he yelled out again.
It only took Remus a split second to realize why muggle movies always had disasters go in slow motion. They actually happened like that in real life. Remus watched, horrified, as Sirius grabbed Severus by the collar and took a step towards him, as if to attack, but a sudden bolt of lightning startled them. Remus eyes widened in shock as he saw Sirius misstep and go sliding down a muddy slope, into the darkness, dragging Severus with him. Panicked, Remus threw caution to the wind, and slid down the muddy ledge after them.
Only brief flashes of light from the stormy sky provided any visibility in the darkened jungle. Reaching out, helplessly, Remus called out desperately.
"Are you there?! Sirius? Severus?"
"Remus?" Sirius called back, from somewhere unknown.
"What?" Remus yelled back, looking around wildly in the darkness, "Where are-"
Remus's voice caught in his throat as an echoing crack came from overhead. He watched, horrified, as the silhouette of a broken tree branch came crashing down on top of him, and he knew no more.
***
When he awoke, Remus did not know how long he had been unconscious. Moaning and rubbing his head, he squinted at the sudden sunlight that was invading his eyes. Remus sat up carefully and breathed a sigh of relief at seeing his companions were fully alive. Sirius was sitting against a tree, asleep (Not to mention, snoring) Severus was seated on a nearby tree stump, wrapping a splint to his wrist with a vine. He glanced sidelong at Remus.
"You're awake." he said simply, still occupied with the makeshift splint. Remus nodded.
"Er, yeah. Wh-what happened?"
"Lightning sand." Severus said, indicating a pit that closely resembled golf-course sand trap.
"Lighting sand?" Remus, asked confused.
Severus nodded. Picking up a large stick, he tossed it into the sand. Remus watched, shocked, as it was sucked beneath the sand within seconds.
"So, I'm assuming you fell in?"
"Actually, it was sleeping-beauty over there. I pulled him out after he fell."
"You saved him?" Remus asked, surprised.
"Don't get excited, Lupin." Severus growled, "I just didn't want to have to explain to Dumbledore what happened to him"
"Sure, Snape. Whatever you say." Sirius had woken up, and was now watching Severus, smirking.
"Shut up, Black."
Sirius chuckled and ignored him. "Remus, you would never believe what happened. After we slid down, I thought I had landed in mud, but we couldn't see anything! It was completely pitch black."
Remus smirked, but refrained from making the obvious pun. (He suspected that Severus would have severely beaten him.)
"So, I thought I heard you, but there was this big crack. I suppose it must've been the branch that hit you. And then, I noticed that I was sinking into the mud. It was waist-high by the time I realised, and when I had first landed, I was only up to my ankles, so I knew I was sinking fast. And then, Severus, believe it or not, saw that I was sinking, and so he climbed onto a tree branch, even though it was still thundering like mad, through down a vine, and pulled me out... And then he fell out of the tree."
Remus shook his head in disbelief and looked over at Severus. "You did all that?"
Severus didn't look up from his bandaging. "It was an act of necessity. Nothing more."
"That doesn't change the fact you saved Sirius's life. He owes you."
Sirius glared at Remus, as if hoping he wouldn't have mentioned that detail, but then looked back at Severus. "Some Slytherin YOU are, saving my life like that. I think hanging around Gryffindors like us has rubbed off on you."
"That's ridiculous, Sirius." Severus smirked as he stood, "If you that were true, I would have rubbed off on you, and you wouldn't have needed saving in the first place."
Remus chuckled and helped Sirius to his feet.
"Yeah, well, maybe you should have been a Gryffindor in the first place." Sirius laughed.
"Take that back!"
"Severus is a Gryffindor! Severus is a Gryffindor!"
"Do I have to put you in the quicksand again?"
"Severus is a Gryffindor, and he's going marry Minerva McGonagall!"
"Sirius, I'm warning you..."
"And he has red underwear with gold lions on it!"
"That's it!"
Remus smiled to himself and walked ahead, ignoring the sounds of what was no doubt a comical scuffle behind him. Sometimes the worst-case scenario could make the best of a bad situation.
