Hogwarts Friends, Hogwarts Enemies

Chapter 7 – Fluxweed and Lunacy

"Name the three active ingredients in Polyjuice Potion." Professor Samovar was glaring at his Sixth Year Ravenclaw/Gryffindor Potions class, a week after the exam. The only hands that went up were Severus's, and a Gryffindor's, a girl called Jade Kingston.

"Miss Kingston."

"Sir, according to the syllabus, Polyjuice Potion should only be used for advanced work in the Seventh Year."

Several Gryffindors winced at this bravado. Samovar's voice was soft. "That is true, Miss Kingston. However, according to Professor Bulwark, you have all learned how to recognise someone under the influence of Polyjuice Potion. As you all know that this is exceedlingly difficult, perhaps you realised that further research into the ingredients of Polyjuice Potion would be useful?"

The class was quiet. Severus could see Lily playing with her hair, despondently. She didn't even look like she'd bothered to think about the answer. He put his hand in the air again.

"Yes, Mr. Snape?"

"Powdered Bicorn horn, Boomslang skin, and a bit of the person you want to turn into."

Samovar's lips curled into a rare smile. "Correct. Five points to Ravenclaw."

Severus distinctly heard Sirius mutter, "What an insufferable know-it-all!"

He sighed, as they were each given a piece of bicorn horn to grind up, by hand.

"Put your wands well out of reach," Samovar cautioned them, and they soon saw why when Peter sneakily attempted to crush the bicorn horn with a grinding spell. It exploded into his face.

Samovar didn't even look up from the marking he had decided to do. "I said wands away, Mr. Pettigrew, I have no desire to turn this into one of Bulwark's lessons. If you had remembered anything on bicorn horns, you would realise that when removed from the animal, they explode on contact with magic."

As Severus carefully crushed his own piece of horn, he couldn't help smiling a little. That was the sort of thing Bulwark would have enjoyed. Although he might have been a little more careful than to tempt a student to cast a spell on bicorn horn right in front of his face. When Lily had still been able to ask Severus for help with her Potions, she periodically complained about Samovar's apparent total lack of insight. She had occasionally teased Severus that maybe he should take over the Potions lessons, as he was a much better teacher. Sirius glanced back at him, saw the smile and scowled. Oh great, now he thinks he's got another reason to hate me.

Whilst they were writing up the potion so far, Samovar announced that after nightfall – quite late, these summer days – they were all to collect fluxweed for the potion. A crack sounded, as Remus snapped off the end of his quill.

"It can be found growing around the lake," he told them. "And although you have no Potions lesson tomorrow, it must be collected tonight. It must be picked during a full moon."

The class collectively groaned, and mutters were heard that they had plenty enough to do already tonight. Samovar ignored them.

"Have you got a quill?" Remus whispered to his friends. "I just broke mine, and I can't use a Fixing Spell – the bicorn horn."

His fellow Gryffindors all shrugged. Severus leaned forward. "Here, you can borrow mine. I've already finished."

On his way back to Ravenclaw tower, Severus saw the four Gryffindors again. He meant to ask Remus for his quill back, and headed over to them.

"I'll collect yours," James was saying. "Are you sure you'll be all right, Remus?"

"Wait," Sirius said. "Outsider approaching."

He obviously didn't mean for Severus to hear that. Still, when Severus stared him challengingly in the eye, he looked back, as if he'd intended to shout it out to the entire school.

"What is your problem?" Severus asked, softly, dangerously.

"I don't have a problem, do you?" Sirius's voice was falsely offhand.

Severus felt like something had broken within him. He would not stand for Sirus's petty behaviour anymore, making him feel worthless. He didn't deserve that – he didn't.

"I don't have a problem – except for being falsely accused of a crime with no evidence. Except being judged and mocked and hated because of everything I do. Except being treated like scum, like a disease just because you can't take me being better at Quidditch than you. Except being treated like I'm not worthy to hold a door open for you when I'm worth ten of you. My only problem is you, Sirius Black."

Sirius was staring at him angrily, the other three Gryffindors looking concerned. As Sirius opened his mouth to respond, Severus turned away. Sirius started after him.

"Don't, Padfoot," James whispered. Sirius did hold back, but his face was red.

At around ten o'clock, sixth year students were dotted around the lake, with Herbology books and lit wands. Various students interweaved, talking about how ridiculous it was.

"I'll bet he has a whole stash of fluxweed gathered under full moon in his store room!"

"We so don't need as much as he told us to get – I looked it up. He wants us to stock up his own private store."

"How are you meant to tell what fluxweed is under this light?"

Severus and Geoff managed to find a secluded spot that had not yet been attacked by the indignant students, and set to work, pulling clumps of it out.

"Look, it's the Marauders," Geoff muttered. A little way along, unaware of their presence, were James, Peter and Sirius.

"Is that what they call themselves?" Severus's tone was derisive, but only because he was jealous of the stunts they pulled. And because of what he thought of Sirius. "Great – Remus isn't there. I need my quill back for tonight."

"Hey, Sev, what's the rush? You could do with a break from studying, besides, Sirius is probably still mad at you."

The tone of his voice was annoying, irritating, frustrating. Like he should care what Sirius thought. Like petty little Black should decide what he said and did. He was still friends with James and Peter, and Sirius should deal with that.

He walked up to them, and said to James, "Did Remus give you my quill? I have an essay to finish."

"Couldn't you finish it before, Mr. Perfect?" Sirius muttered. Severus ignored him – much to his fury.

"No, sorry," said James, in a strangely distant tone. "He's at his mother's again, and he must have forgot." He gave a strained smile. "Come on, let's look further around," he said to the other two.

They turned to leave.

Then Sirius looked back.

"Actually, Remus isn't at his mother's. He decided to explore the Shrieking Shack tonight."

Severus scoffed. Did this little twerp honestly think he was that thick?

"So he just sneaked out of the gates then? Good charm to do that, did Dumbledore give him permission?"

"There's a passageway. Touch the knot on the Whomping Willow and it'll stop moving – there's a tunnel hidden underneath it."

He turned curtly, and followed the others, leaving Severus simmering. He was certain Sirius was lying, certain it was a trick, and that Sirius thought he'd be too scared to try it. Maybe they'd all jump out at him and try to frighten him, or some other pathetic first year trick. Maybe they'd try what Malfoy had done – that would be ironic.

Well, he'd show them. He'd show Sirius. He'd go in, wand up, and disarm them all. He stuffed the fluxweed in his robe pocket, and called to Geoff that he'd be up later.

"I just have something I have to do…"

He traced the outline of Hogwarts, and the eerie sight of the Whomping Willow in the full moon, and crept over there, silently. In the silvery light, it looked like a great, tentacled creature. He could just see the knot, and as the Willow began its customary flailing, he grabbed a long stick and thrust it toward the target.

Miraculously, it worked. So, he should be on his guard – the tunnel might lead anywhere, so he'd better be careful. He took one last glance at the clumps of students like fireflies around the lake, and dipped into the passageway.

It was an earthy, dank tunnel, with the occasional striking shadow of a tree root scrawled across the wall, to the light of his wand. In the distance, he saw an opening, and decided to unlight his wand again, so as not to give them warning of his arrival, and sharpened his senses. He felt his way carefully through the pitch dark, to the place up ahead, dimly lit by the faintest of lights.

Then, he became faintly aware of growling.

"Lumos," he said, cautiously.

A creature… a blood-thirsty, ravenous beast, huge teeth bared, huge evil eyes that seemed to glow with a sickly, poisonous yellow. Severus froze. The creature… a massive tawny wild wolf… paced towards him, sniffing the rancid air.

Gathering his wits at last, Severus ran, the beast at his heels, feeling the tunnel ring with its roars, the breath of it on his back like wind, and imagining with every pace, the wolf dragging him down with its awesome claws, and then – those teeth…

He was being pulled down – by human hands. A spectral figure leapt through the air, and gripped the creature's back. Whilst the wolf struggled to throw this figure off, the dark stranger fumbled for a wand.

"Stupefy."

The wolf slumped, the figure arose, carefully, cautiously, even tenderly, and extraordinarily, even gently stroked the shaggy fur, and moved into the light of Severus's wand.

"James!"

"Hello, Severus. Look – we've got to get out of here, he might awake any minute."

"You're telling me," Severus breathed. "But – how?"

"It's complicated. I'm going to kill Sirius."

Had Sirius known about the wolf? Severus asked himself, as they paced back to the Willow. What was a wolf doing, shut away in the Shrieking Shack? Where did Remus come into all this?

He felt sick. James had a grip on his arm, was leading him along like a blind man. A bloodthirsty wolf, yellow and silver in the light of the wand and the full moon. A brush with death.

James pulled him firmly through the tunnel mouth, and Severus stumbled.

"Are you all right?" he asked. What a ridiculous question.

Severus stared back at him, with horrified realisation. The trips to see his mother once a month, the book James and Sirius had bought him.

"That was Remus, wasn't it?"

***

A/N – As always, thank you my lovely reviewers – Sara the Green Witch and Polgara were kind enough to add reviews to Chapter 6.

Sara – Thank you :-)

Polgara – I'm glad you like her :-)

A/N2 - My review from Ghost Dancer seems to have disappeared! Was it me? Does he/she no longer like my story? I am confused. Is ff.net experiencing problems, maybe?

A/N3 – I love the way that whenever I decide to add little details they seem to become plotlines of their own right. For instance, I looked up the ingredients to Polyjuice Potion on the Harry Potter Lexicon (http://www.i2k.com/~svderark/lexicon/ - a site that is practically essential to the fanfic writer :-)) and the fluxweed really does have to be gathered at full moon. I made up the stuff about the bicorn horn though, I just thought that would be interesting.

A/N4 – I know I've been getting too immersed with this story when I spot several signs – firstly, reading Decoding of the Heart (story id 322665), Severus is described as being a real troublemaker at school, and crap at sport. Surely not! I think. Then I remember that actually I'm the unorthodox one… Secondly, reading An English Werewolf in New York (story id 416304) there's a character called Amanda… I was a bit freaked, especially when someone called her Mandy. Thirdly, in another story I spotted Severus getting a bit infatuated with a Ravenclaw girl, and thought, of course, she's his house. Fourthly I spotted 'SEV' on a number plate, and mentally added 'ERUS' :-)

A/N5 – also in the middle of writing Chapter 6, I walked into the ladies toilets, only to overhear that two girls who share my first name were in there. One had the last name 'Farrell', and the other one I happen to know is the daughter of someone called Mandy.

A/N6 - this would have been out earlier today but I was watching Return of the Jedi. It was awesome!

Please review, even if you hate it :-) (but use constructive criticism!)