::I do not own any of the charachters of this story (other than Anastasia). They all belong to J.K.Rowling. Otherwise someone else would've fallen through the veil in the Order of the Pheonix.::
Chapter 5: In the Moonlight
In the darkness of Hogwarts castle, a cloaked figure was walking towards the kitchens. He reached the entrance and walked into the brightly lit room. The Phantom looked around over the heads of all the little house-elves.
"Hey!" Phantom asked to one of the house-elves, "Have you seen Fabrizio?"
"He is over by the sinks, sir." he piped up, pointing him to the right direction.
"Hey Fabrizio!" Phantom shouted happily.
"Buon sera, signore." Fabrizio said. He was from Italy and could only understand English, not speak it.
"I need a favor, little man." Phantom asked.
"Un favore, signore?" Fabrizio asked suspiciously, "Che genere di favore?"
"You see this goblet?" Phantom asked taking out a golden goblet from inside his cloak, "I need you to put this potion in the goblet." He took out a small vial filled with a purplish liquid. Fabrizio stared up at Phantom in shock.
"Ma signore," he said fearfully, "non sono sicuro se sono permesso fare quello."
"Look Fabrizio," Phantom said impatiently, "don't ask questions. Just do it."
Fabrizio looked ruefully up at Phantom "Ma…"
"Look Fabrizio," Phantom said, "I need you to do me this one favor. ONE! Remember, I got you this job!"
Fabrizio looked guilty then said, "Benissimo, signore, sto facendovi soltanto questo per."
"Thanks Fabrizio! This is what I want you to do, put the potion in before dinner time. Do you know who the goblet is for?"
Fabrizio took the goblet and studied it carefully, "Si signore." Fabrizio said importantly.
"Excellent!" Phantom said. See you tomorrow, Fabrizio"
"Ciao, il mio amico." Fabrizio said as he waved goodbye. "Oy, che beve mai da questo calice sta anado ottnere che cosa sta venedo a lui." Fabrizio said staring at the goblet.
The following evening, Snape was eating dinner with the other Slytherins. He ate, laughed, and stared angrily at the Gryffindors the entire time. At last, he drank deeply from his goblet, but halfway through his drink, a strange sensation came over him. He dropped his goblet, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He started shaking violently, and then he completely blacked out.
When he opened his eyes, he saw many of his fellow Slytherins surrounding him in a semi-circle. A foreign exchange student from California named Richard Marrero (Ha Ha!) asked him, "Sev, dude, are you okay?"
"Uh," Snape said nervously, "yeah, yeah. I-I'm okay." He was still very shaky about what had just happened. "I-I just have to get to the hospital wing."
"Need any help, dude?" he asked curiously.
"No," Snape said, "no, I can get my self there fine." And so he left the hall, with everybody staring after him. He had his hand to his forehead, trying to figure out what had just happened. Suddenly someone had grabbed him by his robes and took him to an empty corridor.
Snape was thrown against the wall and staring him in the face, was the Phantom, masked and all. If looks could kill, Snape would've dropped dead right on the dime. The Phantom was staring as Snape with so much loathing…
"Listen to me," he said angrily, "you've just drank a body controlling potion. You're bound to listen to the maker of the potion for at least twelve hours. Understand?"
"Yes." Snape found himself saying. He didn't want to, but he did anyway. This guy wasn't lying.
"This is what I want you to do." Phantom said, "Tonight, at ten o' clock, I want you to wait behind the statue of Lachlan the Lanky for a boy to come out. I want you to follow him, and don't let him catch you! You keep following him until he stops, alright. Just keep going behind him. Think you can handle that?" He said menacingly.
"Yes." Snape said once again.
"Great!" Phantom said mockingly. "Now just follow your evening normally until ten. Remember. I'll be there watching."
The Phantom swept off and disappeared into the shadows. Snape just stood there, trying to understand what had just happened. He decided to think nothing of it and headed to his dormitory.
That evening, Snape was sitting fire in the Slytherin common room. It was five minutes to ten, and he was starting to get nervous. Beads of sweat started popping up on his forehead. Was that guy in the mask telling the truth? He looked pretty serious, and it could explain what happened to him earlier at dinner.
At last, the clock struck ten. Snape's eyes got wide and he lifted himself off of his armchair and began walking toward the common room entrance.
"Hey, dude!" Richard shouted from the other side of the room, "where are you going? Dude!" Snape paid no mind the boy and continued his way out of the room. It took him a long time to get from the dungeons to the seventh floor, but he managed to get there and hide behind the statue of Lachlan the Lanky before the boy he was supposed to be following had left the castle.
No sooner had Snape gotten there, the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room opened. However, Snape didn't see anyone, but something in the back of his mind told him where to go.
The invisible boy led Snape outside to the grounds towards the Whomping Willow. Snape tried stopping himself, from getting any closer to the hostile tree, but the potion was too strong and his legs kept moving.
At that moment, the Whomping Willow stopped dead cold. Snape was in disbelief. It just stopped! He walked around the tree, amazed, when he noticed a little opening at the base at the tree. Yet, again, something told him, to go in through the hole. And so he did. He found his way crawling through a hole, and after what seemed an age, he finally stopped and entered his way inside an old building.
"I know this place!" Snape thought to himself, "t-this is the Shrieking Shack!" Snape's body was flooded with fear. Everyone knew the Shrieking Shack was the most haunted place of Britain. He had to get out of there, but the potion hadn't worn off yet. He was still succumb to the Phantom's whim.
Snape's controlled legs led him to an empty room where all there was in the room was a four poster bed. A grandfather clock in the next room chimed eleven. The strange sensation in Snape's body seemed to had gone. The potion had worn off and Snape was there shaking, wondering what was to happen next.
Snape jumped as a rat scurried across the floor and went into the next room. His breathing became heavy and constricted. He was so frightened, all he could do was stand there and shiver. Suddenly he heard a low growling sound and every hair on Snape's body stood up. He shook even more and began looking around nervously. Then from the next room emerged a werewolf. It was growling viciously at Snape, it slowly walked toward him, teeth bared.
Snape took out his wand and pointed it at the werewolf. His hands were shaking madly and were barely keeping the wand steady.
"S-s-stupefy!" Snape shouted, but he was so frightened, it weakened the effects of the spell. The most he did to the werewolf was tickle the end of his nose. It still kept making it's way toward Snape, growling even more menacingly than before. It now was crouching low, getting ready to pounce. Snape closed his eyes, bracing himself for the attack….
"AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!" a voice cried out, rattling the windows in the worn house. Someone tackled Snape to the ground out of the way of the werewolf. James Potter untangled himself from Snape and pointed his wand at the vicious creature.
"Potter?!" Snape said completely horrified, "Wh-what are you doing?"
James ignored Snape and said to the werewolf, "Hey there Mooney, old pal." James said cheerfully, "Calm down, okay. I don't to have to hurt you."
Snape was in complete shock, "Mooney?" he said uncertainly, "Isn't that your nickname for Lupin?" Once again James ignored him. "HE IS A WEREWOLF!" Snape shouted, "I KNEW SOMETHING WAS UP WITH THAT WEIRDO!!!"
"Shut up, Snape!" James roared angrily, but all of this noise seemed to drive Remus mad. He tried to jump James, but luckily he moved out of the way just in time. "I'm sorry, Remus," James said remorsefully, "but it's for your own good. STUPEFY!!" James' stunning spell was much stronger than Snape's. It hit Remus squarely in the face, and he crumpled to the floor, motionless. Snape sat there his eyes wide.
"Y-you…" he stammered, "just saved my life."
James continued to ignore Snape. His face was filled with mingled fury. He began to shout through the house, "I know this is your doing!!! Get out here now!! There's no use hiding, I know you're here!!"
A shaggy black dog walked out of the room opposite them. It instantly morphed into the Phantom who was wearing his cloak with the hood up, so his face can't be seen.
"I cannot believe you." James said with a look of disgust and shock. "What are you trying to do him? Have you gone completely mad?"
"I was trying to get back for…" the Phantom began saying.
"Wait," James said putting a hand to his forehead, "Stop, I think I understand now. But that doesn't give you any right to kill him!"
"Remus wouldn't have killed him," the Phantom protested, "he would've just bitten him and turned him into a werewolf."
"Either way," James said impatiently, "It doesn't make it much better."
"Since when do you care anyway?" Phantom snapped at James, "You hate his guts."
"As much as I do hate, the slimy little toerag," James said through gritted teeth as Snape glowered at him, "I won't just stand aside and watch him die."
"You should, it's what he deserves." Phantom said sulkily. The two boys stared at each other for awhile. Snape still stood there, confused beyond all comprehension. James finally sighed deeply and said, "I will meet you here later. C'mon Snape. I'm taking you back up to the castle."
"You can't order me around, Potter!" Snape said spitefully.
James tuned around and said, "I just saved your pathetic life. Watch me order you around. We're going back up to the castle, NOW!"
Snape looked at James ruefully but finally walked out through the door and into the hall. He entered the secret passageway with James right behind him. On their way back to the castle, neither one of them talked until they reached the door.
"Why did you save me tonight, Potter?" Snape asked.
"I dunno." James said thoughtfully, "It just felt that I couldn't let your life be destroyed like that. I see Remus, how tough it is for him. I couldn't let someone else, suffer the way he has too. It's not fair." Snape stared down at his feet the reminder of the trip. When they finally reached the entrance hall, James said, "Snape, I want you to forget what happened tonight. I don't want people knowing Remus is a werewolf. It's hard enough as it is for him. Don't make it harder."
Snape looked at James' imploring face and somehow understood. He nodded quietly and said, "But bear in mind, Potter. You may have saved my life, but we are still enemies in the morning."
"I wouldn't want it any other way, Snivellus." James said bitterly. They each turned on their heels and went their separate ways to their common rooms.
::Psst guys, if you want to know what the hell Fabrizio said in the beginning of the chapter go to some sort of online translator then set it to "Italian to English." and just type what's up there. Aaaaand I need another favor. I'd really like some fanart for this fan fiction, so if anybody would like to send me something, I would really appreciate it. My email address is included in my profile.I'll be waiting!!!::