"Sev?" Sirius called softly. "Sev? Man, where the hell are you? We're not playing hide-and-seek!" Angrily he kicked a stone out of his way and watched it disappear into a pit. A pit? It hadn't been there seconds ago! "Uh-oh", Sirius muttered as he carefully approached it and looked down.

It wasn't deep, actually, only about five feet, but it led down the slope at the path's side like a slide on a playground and, taking a curve, vanished out of sight some six or seven meters away. There was no sign of Severus.

"Uh-oh", Sirius repeated. This didn't look too good. Determined, he jumped down and examined the ground. At once a faint glitter caught his eye, and as he bent down to have a closer look he found that it was a tiny serpent of silver winding around a wand, something to be worn on a necklace. Sirius recognized it straight away: It was the amulet Severus usually wore on a thin leather cord around his neck, but this cord had been used to repair Sirius's dagger belt during a rest the day before, and Severus had put the amulet into his robe pocket until he could have the cord back. Definitely a lead. Now he knew where to look for his comrade.

Sirius? Are you alright? Where's Severus?

Sirius frowned down at the silver snake. "I'm just looking for him", he said softly. "Can't you tell him it'd be nice if he showed up now?"

He's fought it off. I've lost contact with him. And I can't find him anymore.

"What? You lost contact?" Sirius stopped dead.

Yes, I have. You must find him now.

"Oh, okay." Sirius pocketed the amulet, sprinted back to their backpacks, hastily took out some Foe Fire powder and threw it into the sky. At once bright lightning bolts flashed over him, clearly indicating the place where he was. He waited, but Severus didn't turn up. He tried a few more times, but nothing happened. "He doesn't react", he finally told the voice inside his mind.

Try again.

Sirius did so, but again Severus didn't show a sign of himself. What was wrong with him? Now Sirius really started to get concerned. Frantically he searched his backpack for some other device that might be of help now, until he finally came upon a tiny mirror with a golden frame. This was the Brother's Mirror, something Sirius had owned for quite a long time now. It could once be made to show someone dear to its owner, and then always would show what he was doing currently, except it was persuaded to show another person or the certain person died. Back when James Potter, Sirius's best friend, had still been alive, it had always shown James, but now it had been dark for years. Sirius had wanted it to show Remus, but he hadn't had the time to make it do so until now. This moment had yet come, though it would be Severus he would try to see, not Remus.

The only problem was that Sirius actually didn't like Severus at all. They had got on better together than he had expected during the last few days, yet how should he be able to feel a brother's love for this man, as it was required? But he would try nonetheless.

With concentration Sirius stared at the matte glass. He attempted to see Severus back in the time when they both hadn't been older than eleven and not really disliked each other. Maybe the time when they had first met on the school train would be right... It was already dark outside and they were not far from Hogwarts anymore, when there suddenly came a shy knock on the compartment door... A small, skinny boy with beady black eyes... "Sorry, I'm lost. Where d'you get some more sweets?" Sirius couldn't help smiling as he recalled their first meeting. "My name's Severus, Severus Snape. You won't laugh, will you? All those Muggle children did, said that's not a proper name, you can't be called Severus... Call me Sevy if you want. Everybody calls me so, you know, everybody except my father... Sirius? That's a fine name! I'd like to be called Sirius , too - as a second name maybe..."

Slowly the Brother's Mirror became clear and showed a picture of Severus lying on a ground strewn with leaves. At first Sirius feared he was dead, but the mirror wouldn't show a dead man, and besides, the leaves by Severus's head were moving at regular interval, clearly indicating that he was breathing normally. Sirius had found him.