They Didn't Know We Were Seeds

Severus wakes up to someone whispering his name. Cracking an eye open, he startles badly when he sees Lily's shadowed face above his own. Their heads smack together, making a deafening noise in the otherwise quiet room. They fall away from each other, both clutching at their respectively aching heads. In the bed across from Severus's own, a gasp sounds.

Despite the pain he is in, Severus wastes no time grabbing his wand and stunning his dormmate.

He turns his attention to Lily. "What are you doing in here?" he demands.

Looking up at him with a tear-streaked face, Lily says, "Mary's rat went missing the other day. We've been trying to keep her calm, rats are tricky fellows and often get out of their cages, but they come back. Everyone who's going home for Holidays leaves after lunch today and Mary has been crying all night about her Whiskerton."

"Did it–"

"Yeah, never found it then. I feel especially bad for the poor chick now. I'd like to see if we can't just find it. It might offer some closure, you know?" Lily asks in barely more than a murmur.

Severus nods. "Give me a moment."

Lily's expression turns to one of relief. "I'll wait for you right outside."

Once his friend is gone, Severus hurriedly changes out of his jimjams and into his school uniform and a robe. Then, just as he's about to leave, he turns his attention to the dormmate he stunned still frozen in their bed.

"You better keep your mouth shut, Montague," Severus warns before canceling the spell.

Montague grabs Severus's sleeve the moment he's free of the stunner. His blue eyes almost appear to glow as he says, "I want to help."

"What?" he asks, surprised.

The boy scowls. "You stunned me, that doesn't mean I was deaf. I heard your little girlfriend. One of her dormmates' familiar is missing." Averting his eyes, Montague says, "That's almost as bad as it being dead."

Severus sighs. He's not sure if he should feel pity for this boy or if he should be annoyed with him for delaying him and Lily. "It probably is dead."

Montague's face flashes with grief. "Still," he says, "I want to help."

He scrutinizes Montague. There's an earnestness there that's rarely seen on a Slytherin countenance. "Fine," he replies. "Get dressed, Lily's waiting."

-O-

"There you are!" Florence Broom shouts. However, what little relief crosses her overtired features disappears entirely when she sees that behind Lily and Severus is another boy. A Slytherin one at that. "Who's he?" she asks.

"My dormmate, Sage Montague," Severus says. Then, with a sneer, he remarks, "You'd think you would know the name of a boy you've had potions and transfiguration with for the past year and a half."

Broom's face goes pink as Lily slaps his arm. "Don't be a prat, Severus."

He scowls at Lily and snaps, "Then she shouldn't ask idiotic questions!"

Before they can really get in a row about Severus's less than stellar behavior, Montague pipes up, "I heard your rat is missing, MacDonald."

MacDonald, blonde hair a crown of knots, and eyes lined red with fatigue and worry, nods. "Yes," she whispers. "Whiskerton has been gone almost three days now."

"The castle's rather large. I was wondering if you'd be alright with me helping to look for – for Whiskerton."

The Gryffindor's expression wavers between doubt and hope. "If you want to, you can," she finally replies.

"Please," Montague answers.

MacDonald offers a tentative smile, which makes Montague avert his eyes in bashfulness. Severus rolls his eyes, disgusted by the childishness of the duo. They aren't here to watch the two flirt with one another! He sighs loudly, drawing Lily's dormmates' attention to him. Pulling out his wand, he asks, "Everyone have a quill?"

The girls begin to tug an array of feathers from their pockets. Once they are all holding them out, Severus pulls two from his own pocket. "This one is for you, Montague," he says.

Montague fumbles with it briefly. But soon enough he has it out in his hand like the girls do. Severus murmurs the incantation for the Protean Charm over the quills. When finished, he explains, "If you find MacDonald's rat, hold the quill tight in your hand for five seconds until it warms. If you're not sure it's working, hold it longer. After you've done that, all of the other quills will warm too. That warming will be the signal for all of us to come back here." He searches the faces of the girls and Montague. "Are there any questions?"

Jennifer Brown raises her hand.

Severus sighs in annoyance, but asks, "Yes?"

"What spell was that?"

He scowls. "While that is not what I meant when I asked if any of you had questions, if you must know, it was a Protean Charm."

Brown has the decency to look contrite as Severus glances between the rest of the gathered. "Any more questions?"

A cascade of shaking heads follows. Satisfied, Severus orders, "Good. Now, let's split up and start looking."

-O-

Time is running out. In half an hour, rat or no rat, their little search party is going to have to give up because the departure time for students homeward bound for Christmas is fast approaching. Severus kicks at a wall, frustrated. Even with all his advanced knowledge, spells, and intelligence, he still can't find MacDonald's damn rat!

"I don't see how that's helping anything."

Severus spins around and scowls at Montague. "Oh? But sitting down for breakfast is going to find MacDonald's rat?"

The boy gulps audibly. "You saw me?"

"I was passing by the Great Hall at the time," he says, baring his teeth in a snarl.

Montague presses in on himself, which causes him to look smaller than he actually is. Pathetic, even. "I know I shouldn't of, after I said I'd help, but I wanted to see my brother before he left. He's staying with a mate for Christmas instead of at Hogwarts this year."

Right. Montague has an older brother. It troubles Severus how hard it is to remember this. It should be easier. He was dormmates with Montague for seven years. It was Montague's nephew getting trapped in a toilet pipe that led Severus to leave Lily's son alone with his worst memory. What is it about Montague that makes him so insignificant in his mind?

Rubbing at his forehead, Severus sighs. "There's a classroom that isn't much used around the corner. Do you want to help me search it?" Severus asks.

The boy perks up a tad. Obviously relieved that Severus doesn't plan to hex or jinx him. "Yes, I'd like to help."

Together, they walk into the classroom. Severus uses a few spells to try and locate the rat. Like before, they fail to work. As for Montague, he gets on his hands and knees and looks under desks, bookcases, and cabinets. After a time, Severus starts climbing on desks to peer on top of the cabinets and bookcases. As he's doing so, Montague opens the door to the room's closet.

Not even a moment later, he yells out in anguish. Severus hurriedly hops down from the desk to join Montague, who's cradling something close to his chest. It takes all of a minute for Severus to identify the gray lump as a rat. Crouching down beside the boy, he gently pries the dead familiar from Montague's hands and turns it over so he can look at its belly. There are a few black patches there that vaguely come together to create the shape of a bowtie.

Damn it, it's MacDonald's rat.

"Take out your quill," Severus says.

Montague follows Severus's direction and comments, "It doesn't look like its neck is broken."

"No, it doesn't," Severus agrees. Inspecting the rat carefully, he sees a bit of blood around its nose. "I think it still died from physical injuries. There's blood around its nose."

Montague re-pockets the quill. "It's warm now. We should head back, huh?"

He sighs. "Yes, let's go."

"Can I…"

Severus looks at Montague, who's hands are scrunching and unscrunching in his direction. "What?"

"I have a handkerchief. Maybe we should try and wrap it up a bit, so if we pass anybody on the way they don't see it's a dead familiar."

He eyes the boy. The suggestion isn't a bad one. In fact, Severus might even call it thoughtful. "Yes, let's do that."

Severus then hands the rat back to Montague. Silently, he watches as the boy tenderly folds his pristine white handkerchief around the stiff body of the rat. As he continues to fuss with the corpse, making sure as much of it as possible is covered, Severus chances a look at the boy's face. His eyes are wet. Severus begins to wonder if perhaps Montague isn't as much of a prick as he always thought he was.

-O-

When Severus and Sage return to the meeting spot, MacDonald sobs. Reaching out for the shrouded familiar in Sage's hands, she wails, "Whiskerton!"

Face solemn, the boy gently passes the corpse of MacDonald's familiar into her hands. "If you want to give Whiskerton a proper burial, don't let the House Elves take him. I let them take Hecate and she was already disposed of by the time I thought might want to give her one."

MacDonald's face an ugly, blotchy red, clutches her rat closer and nods. "I–I'm going to take him h-home to bury-y."

As MacDonald continues to cry and the other children do their best to comfort her, Lily approaches Severus and asks, "Where did you find her familiar?"

"In a closet of a mostly unused classroom."

Lily frowns. "All those disappeared ones were dead and just never found, weren't they?"

"I assume so," Severus says. "It makes the most sense."

His friend bites her lip. "Me and the rest of the girls are all going home for holidays…"

"I'm not," Severus says, "nor is Sage."

Lily looks at him. There's something questioning about her gaze, but all she says, "Are you going to take him with you to tell a professor?"

Severus dips his chin in agreement. "We did find MacDonald's rat together. It only makes sense."

"They'll want the corpse, I reckon."

He shakes his head. "I don't think MacDonald is going to hand it over. You heard her, she wants to take it home to bury it." Then, grimacing, he says, "Besides, another dead familiar will show up soon enough."

Lily's eyes crinkle. "You haven't had much luck narrowing down your list, have you?"

"I can't remember if any familiars died or disappeared during holidays. If one does, my list is going to become drastically shorter."

She grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze. "I hate to say it, but I hope one does."

He squeezes her hand back. "I have to agree."

Another dead familiar! What are your thoughts on that? How did you like this chapter as a whole?

Thanks for reading, I really appreciate it :)