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Manipulation and Realisation

Lily left the hospital wing during the early morning to find Severus Snape himself waiting for her.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, taking her off-guard.

"Fine," she muttered, wondering why he cared. "Thanks, by the way."

He waved it away, ignoring the grudging tone in her voice. "It was nothing." After an awkward pause he offered his arm to her politely.

Nonplussed at the gesture, Lily furiously questioned herself about what he was doing. At a loss as what else to do she accepted his arm, and linked it with hers.

"Why are you being so... nice?" she finally blurted out, for some reason caring that she sounded rude.

He chuckled, catapulting Lily into the twilight zone. Severus Snape chuckled?! "Well, I realised I was very rude to you the other day, and I just wanted to apologise."

Lily frowned, on the edge of asking who possessed him. He couldn't be genuine... could he? "Accepted," she murmured. Another pregnant pause. "So did they-" she didn't need to specify who they were "really push me?"

Snape stopped walking, turning to look at her. He nodded gravely. "I saw them running away. I think they pushed the mischief making too far this time, they're not even that nasty to me."

Lily couldn't see the trap, couldn't sense the manipulation, instead seeing him as a likeness of herself. She nodded, linking arms with him again; "People like us should stick together," she said familiarly, disbelieving of the small flame of friendship that began to burn. At least on her part.

Severus smirked, out of her line of vision. She had gone like a lamb to slaughter; once he was through with her, this would be one Gryffindor who would never stand up to him again.

"Could you help me with some charms homework?" he asked, adding just the right amount of sincerity to his voice.

"Of course," agreed Lily readily, clean forgetting about Lupin and his injuries. Charms was her favourite subject, and she felt a desire to deepen the friendship between herself and Snape, even if only through the gratitude that she now felt for him rescuing her. An ignored part of her was questioning why he was about in Hogwarts at that time of night in the first place... but she paid no heed.
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Sirius woke before the others. The first thing he saw was Remus' empty bed. Usually Remus was back from his nightly excursions by this time, and part of him began to worry. Not a good way to start the day he concluded.

Breakfast was a sombre affair for the three Marauders. Word had spread around the whole of Hogwarts, seemingly in the two hours that everyone had been awake, and naturally the whole of Gryffindor were privy to a 'version' of the night's events and saw fit to judge the three boys on it.

After Sirius had asked a pretty third year, Rebecca someone, to pass the butter close to eight times, and been ignored every time, James suggested going to the Library, the Hospital Wing, the Astronomy Tower, anywhere but where they were.

In the end they finished up in the hospital wing, to find out how Lily was and to try and set the record straight.

She wasn't there. Instead, they found Remus, pale and battered.

Sirius sat at the foot of the bed, James to the side, and Peter on the opposite side, not talking, merely waiting for their friend to wake.

Madam Pomfrey came out from time to time to check on her patient and to cluck at the three boys.

Finally, after what seemed like forever to the fidgeting Sirius, Remus' eyes fluttered open to take in their presence. A smile flitted, somewhat painfully, across his features.

"Hi guys," he breathed laboriously.

James smiled in return. "You look reminiscent of shit."

"I seem to be hearing that a lot lately," Remus replied slowly, still managing to inject the familiar sardonic tone into his words however.

"Got anything you'd like to tell us?" Sirius asked, arching an eyebrow almost impossibly high.

Their friend didn't answer, instead making a feeble attempt to sit up. James moved to help him, propping the pillows up so he could make it. At exactly the same time all three of them caught sight of the gash running clean across his shoulders.

"What happened?!" exclaimed Peter. James and Sirius had frozen, replaying the events of the night before.

"Diffindo Corpal!" he cried.

The jinx hit the werewolf across its shoulders, splitting the flesh open into a wide gash.

"I honestly can't remember," Remus replied, not noticing James and Sirius shell-shocked expressions. Peter, on the other hand, did.

"You both look like you swallowed a Niffler!" he said, grinning.

"What's the matter," Remus asked, on edge, all of a sudden terrified.

"You're a werewolf..."

His worst fear had just come true.
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Madame-knight – I'm glad you liked the last chapter! Yes Snape doesn't do much without an agenda though. He's not ALL bad… just seems that way at this time of the story.

Child-of-scorpio – haha, your review made me laugh! Found a pitchfork yet? Yes Snape is nasty, but we knew that already, no? I'm sure he will get some sort of comeuppance at some point though...

Actrez – ah, you like this story as well? I think that DEFINITELY earns you a platinum star (for reviewing all of my stories – I love you!) and a diploma in loyalty. Hehe, if you're feeling very brave check out my new baby it's considerably different to any of my other stories though (just a warning there). But anyway, I am babbling. Never a good sign.