Disclaimer: not mine, J.K.Rowling's.

Rumours

Severus Snape examined the girl's face curiously. There was a graze across her forehead that was beginning to scab over but other than that she looked unharmed.

Suddenly the entrance doors swung open and Severus found himself face-to-face with James Potter himself. He smirked.

"Trying to kill fellow students now, Potter?" he inquired silkily.

James started forwards to find out how Lily actually was. Severus held out a hand, warding him back.

"Or maybe just a very violent lover's tryst?"

"You'd love that wouldn't you Snivellus," Sirius spat, shooting death glares his way.

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed angrily, but he ignored the jibe non-the-less. "Well, why don't you tell me what happened? Because at the moment I'm thinking any number of things." He sneered nastily.

James realised that he meant he could start various stories on what they had been doing outside, and what had happened to Lily. He was loath to tell the truth to the Slytherin though, and a part of him was very reluctant to tell anyone about the werewolf.

"She fell down some stairs," he answered abruptly.

Snape smiled unkindly. "Don't tell lies as a profession," he suggested. Slowly, and the Gryffindors watched in amazement, the Slytherin boy picked Lily up from the floor. Her head lolled unpleasantly to one side, making her seem like a rag doll. "She needs to go to the hospital wing," he announced and was gone, down the winding corridors of Hogwarts.

"What's he playing at?" Peter asked curiously.

Sirius and James shared an unreadable look. "He goes to the hospital wing, plays the hero, gets to tell whatever story he wants about Evans, and they'll believe him. Basically we're doomed by the whole of Gryffindor."

Peter frowned. "Well why don't we go and tell them the right version?"

"What, and say we were out looking for Remus – who has disappeared – but found a werewolf instead. We also used an invisibility potion and stole ingredients from the Potions classroom," snorted James humourlessly.

"I guess not."

"I wonder where Remus actually is," Sirius said, voicing what they were all thinking out loud.

"We'll talk to him tomorrow," replied James. They began to walk the path back to Gryffindor tower.

Tomorrow would be a trying day indeed.
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Lily awoke to a pounding in her head. Sunlight filtered through the curtains of the hospital wing, making her squint. She rolled to the side and winced as a bruise on her right hip came into contact with the mattress.

Madam Pomfrey breezed in from her office.

"Ah, your awake," she said, stating the obvious. "Let's see how your head is doing. Quite a nasty knock you took there." The matron tutted about dangerous night-wanderings.

"What happened?" asked Lily slowly, straining her mind to recollect.

"You don't remember at all?" she inquired, plumping up Lily's pillows.

Lily shook her head, but then quickly stopped because it made her vision spin.

"Well, Mr Snape of Slytherin came in carrying you at the wee hours of this morning. He said you'd been pushed down some stairs."

The Gryffindor frowned, she certainly didn't remember Snape, or, for that matter, any stairs. "Who did he say pushed me?" Lily asked slowly.

The matron fixed her with a level look. "He said, that he saw Black, Potter and Pettigrew running away." Pomfrey looked understandably shocked as though she didn't believe it. "He was quite adamant though. He did save you – you could have caught hypothermia on the cold stone floors of Hogwarts." She clucked disapprovingly. "I'll just find some balm for your bruises and heal your head," she explained, bustling away into her office.

Lily lay and stared at the ceiling. Could they really have pushed her? Oh, if only she could remember something. The last thing was finishing lessons the day before and going up to 'her room'. Then something happened, but she couldn't, for the life of her, recall what.

And, would Snape really have bothered helping her if there wasn't anything in it for him?

But there was no time for further contemplation as the doors of the hospital wing opened and Professor Dumbledore entered, floating a stretcher just behind him. Lily watched curiously as the body was unloaded gently on to the bed. A flash of brown hair caught her attention.

Dumbledore whispered something to Madam Pomfrey before turning to exit the room, winking at Lily on the way past.

Lily found herself staring straight at an unconscious Remus Lupin in the opposite bed. He looked somewhat the worse for wear and, as Madam Pomfrey turned him over muttering about irresponsible children, she caught sight of an impressive and painful looking gash across the top of his shoulders.

Lily heard the matron catch her breath looking at it, before efficiently healing the Gryffindor. The redhead watched curiously, wondering. Where had he been? What could have done something like that to Remus Lupin?

She thought there were a few things about the previous night that needed to be explained by various people.
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Child-of-scorpio – this one is purely for you, lol. I had it already written so I thought you might enjoy reading it so that you don't suffer from heart failure. Hehe :)

Xx Susannah xx