Lupin was walking in the forest. He had given up looking for Snape, who had
disappeared some days earlier. The man had stormed off to his rooms and
never returned, not even when Dumbledore called him through the fire.
After a frantic hour or so fruitless searching, Dumbledore had given up, saying that the disagreeable Potions Master had probably gone somewhere private for a rethink about his life.
A noise in front of him snapped him out of his reverie of thoughts. Something was rustling in the bushes. It was probably some small rodent, Lupin thought, hardly giving it regard.
A cloaked man walked calmly out from behind the bushes, startling the werewolf. It wasn't just the fact that he hadn't been able to smell the man; it was the stranger's apparent ease with being in a forest full of dangerous magical creatures.
Lupin stopped dead, his wand half drawn. The stranger took a ragged breath.
"I wouldn't draw that if I were you." He said in a voice more hoarse than Lupin's after a full moon. Something silver glinted in his neck.
"Why not?" Lupin asked, managing to keep his voice from shaking too much.
"You don't want me to hurt your friend, do you?" the rasping voice answered. A scarred hand protruded from the cloak and beckoned a second figure out of the bushes.
"Severus?" Lupin cried in disbelief. The Potions Master pointed a metal object directly at the werewolf's chest.
"This is a gun." The cloaked man said offhandedly. "If he shoots it, it will kill you, and you will die a very messy death. It's an amazing Muggle invention if I may say so. The wound in your chest where the metal ammunition enters will be very small and precise, but unless it gets lodged somewhere in your ribcage it will tear your back apart when it exits. You must respect these Muggles for their devices of death."
Lupin swallowed. Snape's eyes were hard and cold, nothing like the usual black tunnels of hidden emotion. He looked back into the other man's eyes. It was like looking into the world. He felt if he asked those eyes the secret to world peace, they would know the answer.
Looking deeper, Lupin saw something else there. He saw, lurking in and among the amazing knowledge and cruel wisdom some remnants of dark pits, with strings of emotions attached to them. It gave him the feeling of diving into a bottomless pool.
"What have you done to Severus?" He asked, barely keeping suppressed anger from his voice. The gun was still pointed straight at his chest, though Snape was not moving or responding to anything around him.
"Done? I have barely done anything to him. As you will see, he is unharmed. But he can drop dead at my orders. I advise you not to interfere."
With reflexes born from the curse he bore, Lupin leapt at the man, snarling. He jerked in surprise and Snape jerked also, which is why the single shot that was fired went through Lupin's leg instead of his chest.
Lupin fell to the floor, groaning. The pain in his leg was abominable, though his limb possibly looked worse than it felt. True to the man's word, the hole where the bullet had entered was tiny and accurate, yet the back of his leg... muscle was showing, blood spattered everywhere, flesh mixed with skin in some torn mutant horror.
Semi - conscious, Lupin looked up at Snape. The Potions Master seemed unaware of the awful injury he had just inflicted on his colleague. The blank, cold eyes were focused on some point above Lupin's head.
Lupin painstakingly pushed himself to his feet and pulled out his wand. A flare of panic mingled among the gloating happiness of the cloaked man's eyes of infinity.
Sharpened edges became blurred and the figure seemed to melt into the air around him. At that precise moment, Snape gave a strangled cry and fell backwards to the ground, the gun skittering across the floor.
"Severus!" Lupin cried again, limping over to the fallen man and checking frantically for a pulse. To his immense relief, the Potions Master was not dead. He was motionless, hardly breathing with a slightly parted mouth. The rises and falls of his chest were much more laboured than should usually be.
"Severus?" Lupin tried again, anxiously patting the man on the cheeks. No response issued from Snape. Lupin gazed around, unseeing into the forest before getting up almost in a daze, hoisting Snape over his shoulder and staggering back towards the school, dragging his useless leg along behind him and leaving a trail of blood.
Behind him a single pair of eyes danced in the shadows, as their quarry grew fainter in the outline of the sun.
Lupin stumbled under Snape's weight, making his slow way up to the castle, tripping on tree roots and stepping in puddles from the morning's dew. Although he never once stopped or hesitated, the building in front of him seemed to be getting no closer, and he was rapidly tiring.
Hagrid's cabin loomed into Lupin's line of vision, and he altered his course to there, knowing he would never make it to the main school. He fell against the door, Snape's lifeless body falling on top of him yet making no move or sound.
"Who's there?" Hagrid's voice called out from within the hut. Lupin found his mouth so dry that he could barely make any noise. He tried for a hoarse, raking bark but turned it into a howl as the limp form draped across him slid down onto his torn leg.
The door opened and Lupin, losing his only means of support, toppled into the cabin, Snape's prone form rolling unresisting off him and down the steps. The hazy form of Hagrid swum into view above his head. Lupin knew he was losing a lot of blood and had to get medical attention. His dry throat did not permit him to speak, but he attempted mouthing to Hagrid.
Hagrid seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, if nothing else.
"Hang on in there, Professor, I'll get you to the hospital wing!" He grunted. "You're gonna be ok."
The pain from his leg was now overwhelming. Some ironic part of his brain told him that if he had stayed in the forest with Snape it would be reduced to a dull throbbing by now, but his prolonged strain and activity had taken its toll on the wound, which was worse than it had been.
He registered what had just been said and realised, with a great amount of relief, that Hagrid had both he and Snape in his formidable arms and was taking them up to the castle.
Vision swimming, Lupin gratefully passed into unconsciousness, clutching his wand tightly in his hand.
After a frantic hour or so fruitless searching, Dumbledore had given up, saying that the disagreeable Potions Master had probably gone somewhere private for a rethink about his life.
A noise in front of him snapped him out of his reverie of thoughts. Something was rustling in the bushes. It was probably some small rodent, Lupin thought, hardly giving it regard.
A cloaked man walked calmly out from behind the bushes, startling the werewolf. It wasn't just the fact that he hadn't been able to smell the man; it was the stranger's apparent ease with being in a forest full of dangerous magical creatures.
Lupin stopped dead, his wand half drawn. The stranger took a ragged breath.
"I wouldn't draw that if I were you." He said in a voice more hoarse than Lupin's after a full moon. Something silver glinted in his neck.
"Why not?" Lupin asked, managing to keep his voice from shaking too much.
"You don't want me to hurt your friend, do you?" the rasping voice answered. A scarred hand protruded from the cloak and beckoned a second figure out of the bushes.
"Severus?" Lupin cried in disbelief. The Potions Master pointed a metal object directly at the werewolf's chest.
"This is a gun." The cloaked man said offhandedly. "If he shoots it, it will kill you, and you will die a very messy death. It's an amazing Muggle invention if I may say so. The wound in your chest where the metal ammunition enters will be very small and precise, but unless it gets lodged somewhere in your ribcage it will tear your back apart when it exits. You must respect these Muggles for their devices of death."
Lupin swallowed. Snape's eyes were hard and cold, nothing like the usual black tunnels of hidden emotion. He looked back into the other man's eyes. It was like looking into the world. He felt if he asked those eyes the secret to world peace, they would know the answer.
Looking deeper, Lupin saw something else there. He saw, lurking in and among the amazing knowledge and cruel wisdom some remnants of dark pits, with strings of emotions attached to them. It gave him the feeling of diving into a bottomless pool.
"What have you done to Severus?" He asked, barely keeping suppressed anger from his voice. The gun was still pointed straight at his chest, though Snape was not moving or responding to anything around him.
"Done? I have barely done anything to him. As you will see, he is unharmed. But he can drop dead at my orders. I advise you not to interfere."
With reflexes born from the curse he bore, Lupin leapt at the man, snarling. He jerked in surprise and Snape jerked also, which is why the single shot that was fired went through Lupin's leg instead of his chest.
Lupin fell to the floor, groaning. The pain in his leg was abominable, though his limb possibly looked worse than it felt. True to the man's word, the hole where the bullet had entered was tiny and accurate, yet the back of his leg... muscle was showing, blood spattered everywhere, flesh mixed with skin in some torn mutant horror.
Semi - conscious, Lupin looked up at Snape. The Potions Master seemed unaware of the awful injury he had just inflicted on his colleague. The blank, cold eyes were focused on some point above Lupin's head.
Lupin painstakingly pushed himself to his feet and pulled out his wand. A flare of panic mingled among the gloating happiness of the cloaked man's eyes of infinity.
Sharpened edges became blurred and the figure seemed to melt into the air around him. At that precise moment, Snape gave a strangled cry and fell backwards to the ground, the gun skittering across the floor.
"Severus!" Lupin cried again, limping over to the fallen man and checking frantically for a pulse. To his immense relief, the Potions Master was not dead. He was motionless, hardly breathing with a slightly parted mouth. The rises and falls of his chest were much more laboured than should usually be.
"Severus?" Lupin tried again, anxiously patting the man on the cheeks. No response issued from Snape. Lupin gazed around, unseeing into the forest before getting up almost in a daze, hoisting Snape over his shoulder and staggering back towards the school, dragging his useless leg along behind him and leaving a trail of blood.
Behind him a single pair of eyes danced in the shadows, as their quarry grew fainter in the outline of the sun.
Lupin stumbled under Snape's weight, making his slow way up to the castle, tripping on tree roots and stepping in puddles from the morning's dew. Although he never once stopped or hesitated, the building in front of him seemed to be getting no closer, and he was rapidly tiring.
Hagrid's cabin loomed into Lupin's line of vision, and he altered his course to there, knowing he would never make it to the main school. He fell against the door, Snape's lifeless body falling on top of him yet making no move or sound.
"Who's there?" Hagrid's voice called out from within the hut. Lupin found his mouth so dry that he could barely make any noise. He tried for a hoarse, raking bark but turned it into a howl as the limp form draped across him slid down onto his torn leg.
The door opened and Lupin, losing his only means of support, toppled into the cabin, Snape's prone form rolling unresisting off him and down the steps. The hazy form of Hagrid swum into view above his head. Lupin knew he was losing a lot of blood and had to get medical attention. His dry throat did not permit him to speak, but he attempted mouthing to Hagrid.
Hagrid seemed to understand the urgency of the situation, if nothing else.
"Hang on in there, Professor, I'll get you to the hospital wing!" He grunted. "You're gonna be ok."
The pain from his leg was now overwhelming. Some ironic part of his brain told him that if he had stayed in the forest with Snape it would be reduced to a dull throbbing by now, but his prolonged strain and activity had taken its toll on the wound, which was worse than it had been.
He registered what had just been said and realised, with a great amount of relief, that Hagrid had both he and Snape in his formidable arms and was taking them up to the castle.
Vision swimming, Lupin gratefully passed into unconsciousness, clutching his wand tightly in his hand.