Author's note: This is a Snape POV, Marauder-Era story, so naturally, the Marauders come off very badly. That is not to suggest this is the only interpretation of their characters, but it's one way it might have been. If you think you will be upset by this, and can't bear to have anything said about the Marauders, please skip this one. You have been warned.

Blood

Severus stood by himself, his back to Hogwarts Castle, watching the sun set over the lake. The evening air was chilly, and he shivered a little in his enormous black sweater. This was his least favourite time of day. For the most part he enjoyed his classes, and he also liked the nights when he could slip off to some quiet corner and read or experiment with a new potion or spell. It was the evenings he hated, because you never knew who was going to be around. You could never get a moment's peace.

Then he heard them.

"Snivellus? Hey, Snivellus!"

How he'd come to hate that voice! Maybe if he just ignored them…

Severus pressed his face to the window. He wished the dogs wouldn't come in the garden. They were so bold, so fearless. Once, one summer afternoon when his mother had left the door open to get a bit of breeze, they'd come right into the house looking for food.

They weren't feral dogs, exactly. They all had collars and owners. Those owners just let them run, though, so they'd formed a sort of pack, and they were a minor terror to the neighbourhood. Just last week one of them had bitten his mother while she was carrying groceries up the front steps. Eileen Snape had just stood there, the blood from the perfect circle of the bite mark dripping down her calf, her face frozen in an expression of disbelief, as if she couldn't fathom that she'd just been hurt. It was an expression Severus had often seen on her face. He'd begged her to call the police, report what had happened, but she refused. She didn't want trouble with the neighbours. She never wanted trouble. Not that it mattered.

The dogs came into the garden one by one, sniffing the air expectantly, without the slightest hint of caution. First the fluffy tan one, he was the leader. The two Dalmatians were next, then the brown one. They'd spotted something; Severus wasn't sure what. The tan one ambled forward lazily, still sniffing. What were they… oh, no! Father had put out the cat…

"Alright, Snivellus?" James Potter was standing right behind him, but Severus refused to turn around.

"Don't call me that!" he protested half-heartedly, knowing it wasn't going to do any good.

"Aww… Snivelly doesn't like his nickname!" Sirius Black chortled.

"Just leave me alone!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't." James moved in front of him so they were face to face. "You didn't say the magic word."

"Protego!" Severus yelled, but it was too late. He was hit with two spells at once. Sirius' Expelliarmus ripped his wand out of his hand, while James lifted him upside down using a non-verbal Levicorpus. Severus was glad he'd changed into trousers before he went outside. If he'd been in his school robes…

"You didn't say 'please,' you see," James informed him solemnly, "So I'm afraid I can't do ask you ask."

"It's for your own good," Sirius explained. "It'll teach you some manners. That's a lesson you're sorely in need of." He tossed Severus' wand to Remus Lupin who was, as always, just watching without comment. "Hang onto to this, would you, Moony?"

Remus seemed vaguely unhappy about the whole situation, but he slipped the wand into his back pocket.

"Now, Snivellus, I believe there's a spell you've been meaning to teach us."

"I'm not going to teach you anything!" Severus felt the blood rushing to his head, and he wondered if he was going to pass out.

Severus hadn't noticed Peter Pettigrew lurking behind James, not until the rat-like boy spoke. "I can make him talk, Prongs." Peter seemed to hold his breath for a moment, until James nodded his approval.

Peter advanced on Severus with his wand out. "Cruc--"

"Stop it, Wormtail!" James bellowed. "Are you mental? You can't use an Unforgivable on him! We've talked about this before. They'd send you to Azkaban! What's wrong with you?"

"Sorry, Prongs. I just…" Peter looked like he was about to cry, and Severus wondered, a little irrationally, what he had been about to say. He just got carried away? It was almost laughable.

"I think Wormtail's got the right idea." Sirius' eyes were alight with a glee that bordered on the fiendish.

"Not you too!" The frustration was obvious in James' voice. "Don't you people have any common sense? We can't just--"

"Unforgivables aren't our only option," Sirius said quietly. "If you want Snivelly to give you that spell…"

"Padfoot, I think you've got a point." James looked Severus in the face. "Incendio," he said quietly.

Severus could smell the burning wool as his sweater started to catch fire. "Potter, this isn't funny! Stop it!"

"Sure, OK," he said, but made no move to do so.

"You aren't really going to kill me!"

James considered this for a moment. "Kill you? No, you're right. I'm not going to kill you. I'm just going to make your life exceedingly difficult for the next little while."

Severus could feel the uncomfortable warmth against his skin. He tried to beat at the tiny flames with his hands, but his range of motion was limited. "Potter… please!"

James didn't answer, but Sirius prompted Severus, "The spell?"

"Alright, fine. It's Liberacorpus. It's non-verbal."

"That's very interesting, Snivelly," James commented conversationally. "Did you come up with that on your own?"

"Potter!"

"Oh, right, yes." He flicked is wand lazily. "Aguamenti!"

The blast of cold water was a shock to Severus. It quenched the flames on his sweater, and then moved to his face and hair, soaking him and making him cough.

Sirius chuckled softly. "Now that's just the Hogwarts spirit, isn't it? There's a stunning example of true intellectual cooperation between Houses!"

Severus felt frozen, paralyzed. He watched as the dogs began to circle, at first moving slowly, then faster and faster as they tightened like a noose around the small black shape that cowered in the middle. He had to do something! He ran down the stairs, barely noticing as he skinned his elbow on the door frame, then out the front door as fast as he could go. He heard the growls, the cat's soft mews of pain and fear. Why were they doing this? What was the point? The dogs started to bark…

"I think we should try out Snivellus' new spell," James suggested.

"Yeah, good idea," Sirius agreed. "We'll help him test it. Just to make sure it works."

"Help him with his research. We're like his collaborators." James threw his head back and laughed.

"Yeah! If you ever write a book, Snivelly, you'd better dedicate it to us. After all, it was us who gave you your start! You want to do the honours, Wormtail?"

"I forgot the spell!" Peter squeaked.

"You're hopeless, you know that? Really hopeless. OK, Prongs, you do it."

James pointed his want at Severus, and Severus abruptly tumbled to the ground, landing hard. He saw stars…

"Whoa, that was wicked! Neat spell, Snivelly! I want to try!" An instant later Severus was back in the air, this time with Sirius' wand pointed at him. He hit the ground face-first this time, and blood began to gush from his nose.

Remus looked decidedly uncomfortable. "You guys, I don't think we should…"

"Oh, don't be a wet blanket, Remus. We're helping Snivellus with his new spell!" Severus was jerked from the ground again… and again…

Through the rushing in his ears, he could hear James instructing Peter on the finer points of non-verbal spellwork. "And you have to point your wand directly at him…"

He was too late. The ground… the dogs' muzzles… stained with red. The small black shape lay unmoving at the centre of their circle. "Go away!" Severus screamed, waving his arms at them, and though they didn't seem at all frightened by the yelling boy, it appeared they were already bored. One by one they left, not sparing so much as a glance at their bloodied victim.

Severus knelt on the ground, taking his beloved pet in his arms. Her blood soaked through his shirt almost instantly. Why did they do it? Why? They weren't hungry, and she was no threat to them. They'd done it just because… they could. Because there were four of them and only one of her. Because she couldn't fight back. Because whatever each individual dog was, together they were a pack, and the pack showed no mercy. Severus pressed the dead cat to his chest. Why did they…? Why?

Severus lay on the ground for a long time, even after they'd lost interest and moved on. He didn't even look up to watch them leave. His nose was bleeding, his sweater was burned beyond repair, and his whole body ached from his repeated run-ins with the ground.

Why did they do this? What was the point? They did because they could. Because there were four of them and only one of me. Because I couldn't fight back. Because whatever each individual boy was, together they were a pack, and the pack showed no mercy.

Slowly, Severus sat up. Next time, it would be different. Next time, he would fight back. He wouldn't be like the cat. He wouldn't be their victim anymore. He was tired of being taken by surprise. In the future, he would be ready.

Next time the blood wouldn't be his…