11. A Sudden Setback (Sirius)

A soft blare of rain tapping against the window filled the silence. The sun had disappeared behind the massive grey veil of clouds which now filled the sky. To make up for the lack of natural light, the librarian Madam Pince had spent the last ten minutes lighting every candle in the library.

Sirius sank deeper into the baggy sofa and sighed. Regulus, sitting opposite him, leaned in closer to the table and took a better look at the chessboard.

"Hope Lewis", said Sirius.

"Who?" Regulus asked without looking up.

"She's a Hufflepuff."

Regulus huffed.

"What? She's hot!" Sirius defended himself.

Regulus turned up his head and gave Sirius a little smirk. "But she's a Hufflepuff," he said, like that settled the matter. "If you don't care what house they are in you should totally meet Rose Phillips," he then added, looking back down at the board. "She's really good looking."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Slytherin?"

"Yeah."

Sirius laughed. "Not a chance."

"You might want to take that back when you see her," Regulus mumbled. "Knight to B5."

Regulus' white knight immediately made an elegant jump to B5.

"Would you consider hooking up with a Gryffindor girl?" Sirius wondered.

"I'm not sure they would be very interested in me." Regulus smiled wryly.

"True," said Sirius. "But still, would you?"

"It's your turn," Regulus informed Sirius.

Sirius heaved himself into a sitting position and leaned in towards the chessboard to study his pieces.

"If it's just a hookup, then sure," Regulus answered.

Sirius looked away from the board to look at his brother. "In that case, what's your problem with a Hufflepuff?" he asked.

Regulus shrugged. "They're boring."

"Have you ever even talked to a Hufflepuff?" Sirius wanted to know.

Regulus smirked. "Not really." He shifted position on the sofa he was sitting in. "Are you going to play today?" he said sarcastically.

Sirius turned his attention back to the chess game. "Queen to F4."

Sirius' Queen swooshed across the board, knocking over one of Regulus' pieces.

"Ha!" Sirius exclaimed. "Hufflepuffs aren't boring," he then continued. "They are kind of the mysterious House. Who even knows what their traits are? That makes Hope Lewis exotic."

"So, hook up with her," said Regulus with his eyes on the board.

Sirius fell back down in the sofa with a soft thud, sinking down an inch into the cushion. He rested his neck against the top of the backrest, gazing up at the ceiling. "I might," he said.

Sirius and Regulus had spent a lot of time together during the past two weeks. The castle was filled with common rooms meant for all houses, where they could meet up on neutral territory. Sirius did actually enjoy their meetings. It was exciting being undercover.

That Sirius was hanging out with Regulus was something James couldn't wrap his head around, though, and he kept bothering Sirius with questions about it. Sirius totally got where James was coming from; if it had been the other way around Sirius would have wondered what the hell James was doing. Sirius didn't like keeping secrets from James, but he knew James would think his plan was stupid and dangerous, and he would try to stop Sirius if he found out. Since Sirius wouldn't answer James' questions James was kind of pissed at him, which sucked. But at the same time, James should really cut him some slack. How many times would he ask Sirius why he was hanging out with Regulus before he just accepted it?

The first step of Sirius' plan had been to gain Regulus' trust, which he had now succeeded with.

"Queen to C6," said Regulus.

Without lifting his head, Sirius lazily glanced at Regulus.

He needed to move on to part two.

Sirius sat up straighter, feeling tense at the mere thought of giving it a shot. He couldn't just bluntly confess that he supported Voldemort. That would be extremely suspicious. It had to be done more elegantly than that. He had to start by planting the thought of him being a Voldemort-supporter in Regulus' mind.

In an attempt to look casual Sirius threw an arm to rest on the backrest as he once again leaned back in the sofa. "I would date Elizabeth Walker," he said, his heartbeat picking up. He paused for a moment, before finally adding in his most resentful tone: "But she's a muggle-born."

Sirius, observing Regulus closely, could hardly missed him frowning.

Regulus shifted his weight, his eyes locked at Sirius. "I'm sorry, what?"

Sirius averted his gaze, a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Yeah, you know," he said. "They're like blond girls; a little slow."

Sirius looked back at his brother. Regulus had rested his elbow on the table, leaning his head in his palm as he stared at Sirius with narrowing eyes.

Stressed, Sirius threw up his hands. "What?" he said defensively.

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you have a problem with mudbloods?" he asked.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed they're kind of stupid?" said Sirius, trying to remind Regulus that they (as far as Regulus knew) shared common ground.

Regulus let his arm fall down on the table, leaning in while keeping eye contact with Sirius. "You've spent your life trying to convince me their kind is just like us," he said heatedly.

Sirius stared back at Regulus, anger flashing through him because of his brother's hostility.

"Well maybe you don't know me," Sirius snapped. "It's not like you've made a lot of effort through the years."

"Only last month you got mad when I said 'mudblood'," said Regulus cooly.

Sirius wanted to punch himself. That had been a huge fucking slip up. Why had he said that?

"Just because I know how to express myself more elegantly-" Sirius began, grasping at straws in his attempt to gloss over the mistake.

"Oh," Regulus interrupted Sirius, mockingly mimicking honest surprise. "I get it now. You are just so much more classy than me."

"That's right," Sirius bit back. "Regulus, what is your problem? How can you possibly get mad when I agree with you? Are you thick or something?"

"You don't agree with me," Regulus huffed. "Do you think I'm stupid?" He slowly shook his head from side to side. "You never take anything serious. Go and fuck with someone else. Someone who might actually swallow your lies."

"What do you mean I never take anything seriously?" Sirius snapped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He could take things seriously. He was being a spy for Merlin's sake.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Regulus answered arrogantly. "Okay, Sirius, so tell me; why are you doing this?"

Sirius stared at Regulus in silence, heart thumping firmly in his chest, debating whether or not to state he supported Voldemort. It was already going downhill anyway, so really, he had nothing to lose.

"You-Know-Who," Sirius whispered, making sure the rest of the library wouldn't hear it.

This caught Regulus' interest. Momentarily, he dropped his hostility as surprise flashed across his face. "What about him?" Regulus asked, still sounding far from friendly.

"I support him."

The sentence had an immediate effect, but far from what Sirius had hoped for. Regulus face turned rather furious, his mouth slightly open in bewildering. "You know, Sirius," said Regulus calmly. "I'm tired of your bullshit."

"It's not bullshit! I'm telling you the truth," Sirius exclaimed in a last attempt to fix the situation.

"Like hell you are!"

They had both raised their voices, and now Regulus stood up, towering over Sirius who still sat on the sofa. Sirius immediately shot up as well.

"What's wrong with you?" Sirius hissed, trying to play the emotional card. "My friends would turn their back on me if they knew. I'm telling you because I thought I could trust you!"

"Apparently I can't trust you," said Regulus harshly. "I actually thought you were cool, but I get it now." He slowly shook his head. "This is all a big joke to you."

"It's not a joke you fucking idiot," said Sirius. "Why the hell would I lie?"

"Honestly, Sirius, I have no clue," said Regulus arrogantly. "Now fuck off."

"Fuck off yourself," Sirius countered.

"With pleasure." Regulus raised a sarcastic eyebrow. He spun around and disappeared behind a bookshelf.

Swearing, Sirius kicked one of the table's legs, causing the chess pieces to rain down on the floor.

Fucking Regulus.

Sirius had to admit it was over now. He had lost his chance.

Two weeks. That was how long he had lasted. He hadn't even come over any kind of information. He really was the worst spy ever.

But it wasn't only his fault. It was actually offensive Regulus thought he was lying. Sure, it was the truth, but still. Regulus didn't know that.

"What do you think you are doing?!"

Sirius was jerked out of his thoughts by the sudden cry text to him. His head shot up and he met Madam Pince's angry grey eyes uncomfortably close to his face. Automatically, Sirius took a couple of steps backwards.

"What?!" Sirius snapped.

"Shouting in my library!" Madam Pince continued. "And don't think I didn't see that!" She pointed at the chess pieces on the floor.

Sirius gave her an irritated look. He really didn't have time for this.

"I'm leaving now," he informed her.

Sirius quickly passed her before she could react and started walking through the library.

"You clean this up!" Madam Pince shouted after him.

Sirius ignored her.

Who's the one making noise in the library now? he thought.

The commotion had not gone unnoticed by any student in the library. They all stared up from their books to glare at Sirius as he passed.

When Sirius exited the library he immediately turned left in the corridor, made his way to the stairwell and stepped on to the first staircase he saw. The staircase slowly started to move across the room. Sirius put his arms on the stone parapet and leaned on it, looking out over the grand stairwell with all its paintings.

Sirius felt strangely drained. He had worked to become a spy since the term started, and now when it abruptly ended he felt a little pointless. One thing he was sure of, however. James, Remus and Peter couldn't know anything was wrong. Sirius embarrassing failure was something they never needed to know about.

When Sirius reached the seventh floor he made his way down the corridor leading to the Gryffindor Tower. In her frame, The Fat Lady was dining with a woman who momentarily was visiting her painting. When Sirius stopped in front of them, The Fat Lady put down the dried plum she was eating and leaned closer.

"Are you okay, honey?" she asked while chewing loudly.

"Tessera," said Sirius, not bothering to answering her.

"Okay then," said the Fat Lady, sounding slightly offended as she swung open.

Sirius climbed inside and immediately began searching the full common room for his friends. He found Remus and Peter sitting in two red armchairs next to each other. They greeted Sirius when he walked up to them.

"Where's James?" Sirius wondered, sweeping his eyes over the common room once again.

"We don't know," said Peter. "We thought he was with you."

Sirius shook his head. "No. "Maybe he's stalking Lily," he jokingly added after a moment.

"In that case, he's not doing a very good job," Remus smirked, jerked his head in Lily's direction.

Sirius smirked back at Remus.

"Well he better show up soon," Sirius continued. "I want to grab some dinner."

"We could check the map?" Peter suggested. "To see where he is."

"Good idea," Sirius agreed.

Remus and Peter stood up, and together the three of them started to climb the stairs to the dormitory.

Sirius, Remus and Peter made their way inside their dormitory and Remus dug up the Marauder's Map from his trunk. The three of them seated themselves on Remus' bed and Remus unfolded the map.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," said Remus, pointing his wand at the parchment.

At once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that Remus' wand had touched. They joined each other, they criss-crossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers

are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

The map showed every detail of the Hogwarts castle and its grounds, along with every person's location. Sirius, James and Remus had been working on it since their second year. It had been a pain in the ass at times since the magic involved to make the map function was extremely complex and difficult to perform. But it had all been worth it. The Marauder's map was amazing and extremely useful. Sirius was also immensely proud that they had created such a powerful magical object.

Sirius, Remus and Peter started to search the map for James. Every person on the map was marked with a little black dot which moved on the map whenever it's counterpart moved in the real world. Every dot was accompanied by a name tag stating the person's full name. Even though Sirius, Remus and Peter had that useful tool, finding James could turn out to be difficult. The castle was big, and in crowded areas, the students' name tags repeatedly shielded each other from view.

It was dinner time, and on the map Sirius, Remus and Peter watched as more and more Gryffindors left the common room as they flooded through the corridor leading from the Gryffindor Tower to the stairwell. Sirius leaned in closer and tried to make out separate people in the tangle of names.

Suddenly, Sirius' eyes were drawn to a single dot a short distance from the cramped corridor. The dot was in an otherwise empty classroom connected to the corridor. It said James Potter.

"There!" Sirius pointed at James' name tag.

Remus and Peter immediately leaned in as well to study the dot Sirius had pointed at.

There was no reason for him to be in an empty classroom?

Sirius and Remus shared a glance.

"Do you think Snape…?" Remus began.

"Maybe," said Sirius.

Snivellus' attacks were usually harmless, but after last year… Sirius was sure Snivellus could go pretty fucking far if he wanted to. And he totally wanted to.

Sirius, Remus and Peter left the dormitory and hastily walked down the stairs. The common room, which had been crammed with people only a short while ago, was now almost entirely empty. Sirius, Remus and Peter made their way into the corridor outside, which by then was quite deserted.

Remus took a second look at the map. "It's that classroom," he quietly told Sirius and Peter, pointing at a door to the left.

Sirius took the lead as they quickly walked up to the classroom. Sirius reached out a hand and opened the door. He stepped inside with Remus and Peter following him close behind. The door slid shut behind them.

The room was pitch dark.

"Lumos," Sirius, Remus and Peter chorused, and their wands all lit up with a white bowl of light.

Immediately, Sirius spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He automatically spun around on the spot to see what it was.

James was lying on his back a couple of feet from the door. His eyes were closed, but otherwise, he didn't look hurt. That didn't mean anything, though, since magic didn't have to leave a visible trace.

Sirius, Remus and Peter rushed up to James. Sirius sank down on his knees and grabbed James by the shoulder.

"James?" Sirius hissed, giving James' shoulder a gentle shake.

James didn't react.

"Non dormienti," said Remus, and a blue light shot out of the end of his wand, hitting James in the chest.

The spell was a general one to abate unconsciousness, whether it was a coma or a regular night's sleep. It worked on James, who stirred.

Suddenly James' eyes flew open. For a moment, he didn't seem to have a clue what was happening, then his eyes narrowed.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked, sounding worried.

"What happened?" Sirius exclaimed.

James tried to sit up but didn't seem to have the strength to do it on his own. Sirius shot out an arm and supported James into a sitting position.

James' eyes swept over the dark room. "Where are we?"

"Empty classroom," Sirius immediately answered. "James, what happened?" he repeated urgently.

James looked rather irritated as he absentmindedly massaged the back of his head. "Snape," he said.

Of course. That fucking piece of shit...

"Or I think it was him," James corrected himself. "I didn't see who it was."

"Of course it was him," said Sirius angrily.

How dared Snivellus? They had never left him unconscious for several hours.

"Are you okay?" Remus repeated.

"What did he do?" Peter asked.

James flicked his eyes between the three of them. "Someone attacked me. Knocked me out." he explained, before adding: "I'm fine, except my head kinda hurts. And I can't see," he added.

First now, Sirius noticed James wasn't wearing his glasses.

Without turning around, Remus lifted his wand. "Accio glasses," he said clearly.

The four of them silently watched as a small object immediately rushed into Remus' hand from a dark corner. Remus stared down at it in silence for a moment, frowning. Then he raised his wand and pointed it at the object.

"Reparo," said Remus.

James, who had started to stand up, sighed. "He broke them?" he asked disbelievingly.

Sirius snorted.

What a petty thing to do. Seemed just like Snivellus' style.

Sirius stood up as well.

"Not just that apparently," Remus responded, handing the object over to James.

Sirius leaned closer to take a better look as well. He had expected a pair of broken glasses but was met with a small, oddly shaped black ball lying in the palm of James' hand. It wasn't solid or smooth but consisted of twisted thin metal sticks going in all directions, creating a ball-shape. After studying the ball for a moment Sirius could kind of make out that they used to be a pair of glasses.

"I can't mend them," Remus explained. "It was done by magic."

"He's not getting away with this," Sirius promised angrily.

To Sirius surprise, James immediately objected.

"No," said James hurriedly. "Don't attack Snape. We don't even know if it was him."

Sirius stared at James in disbelief. "You too?" he asked irritated. "Is Remus contagious?"

James laughed joylessly.

"Very much so, I'm afraid," Remus answered dryly. "Just avoid the fangs and you'll be fine."

Sirius snorted. "I meant your stand on the Snivilius-thing," he clarified.

"I agree with James," said Remus. "We decided not to attack Snape, and like James said, we don't even know if it's him."

Sirius huffed. "You two can't be serious!" He turned to look at James, hoping to knock some sense into him. "Snivellus just attacked you! He destroyed your glasses. And you are just going to let it slide?"

James started back kind of sheepishly. "Look," he said. "Don't think I'm okay with this. But I just talk to Lily-"

Sirius groaned. "Padfoot, this is not the moment to impress a girl who's never even going to like you back!"

James looked slightly offended.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Sirius added a little more softly.

"Actually," said James in a clear voice. "I talked with Lily this afternoon. I actually think she likes me, and we talked about Snape and-"

"James-" Sirius cut in, but James interrupted him.

"Okay, it's a long story, but I really can't think of anything I'd like to do less than attack Snape."

Sirius stared at him. "What did Lily do to you?" he snarled.

James ignored him. "Let's get out of here," he said.

Offended he wasn't listening to him, Sirius stared at James. Before he could speak, however, James headed for the classroom door, Remus as Peter right behind. Irritated, Sirius turned around and followed them.

The four of them gathered in a small circle in the empty corridor outside. James, obviously sensing Sirius was still annoyed, gave him a friendly smile.

"Let's grab some dinner, shall we?" James asked, looking directly at Sirius.

"Okay," Sirius answered surly.

Sirius had to admit James was allowed a break, considering he had just been attacked. But Sirius wasn't done with this discussion (which should not even have been a discussion). Snivellus was not going to get away with this.

The four of them started to walk down the corridor, when suddenly, James wobbled. Immediately Sirius reached out a hand around James to steady him. James gasped, and grabbed onto Sirius' shoulder for support.

"My chest hurts," James got out, pressing his free hand against his torso.

Sirius shared worried glances with Remus and Peter.

"Should we go to the Hospital Wing?" Peter asked.

James drew a sharp breath, gripping Sirius shoulder harder. "Ow!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah. Yeah, we are," Remus decided.

Sirius, Remus and Peter all helped supporting James as their made their way to the Hospital Wing (James refused to let them levitate him since he didn't want other students to see something was wrong). Madam Pomfrey, looking stern as they explained what had happened, took James in before sending Sirius, Remus and Peter away.

"Now, Snape's going to pay for this," Sirius firmly stated as they walked away from the Hospital Wing.

"Sirius, no!" Remus irritatedly exclaimed.

Sirius couldn't believe his ears.

"He hurt James!" Sirius shot back. "And he's trying to ruin your life! Why don't you care?!"

Remus looked hesitant and didn't answer.

"I honestly don't understand." Sirius continued, sharply. "Please explain.

"I do care!" Remus exclaimed. "You are just going around this the wrong way."

"And what's the right way? Doing nothing?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Look, James explicitly told you not to do anyth-"

"Peter agrees with me," Sirius cut Remus off, before turning to Peter. "Don't you Pete?"

Peter looked a little startled. "Yeah…" he said after a moment.

"See." Sirius turned around to Remus again.

Remus narrowed his eyes. "You know, do what you want," he said angrily. "Why care about what James and I think? Our opinions clearly don't matter."

Remus turned his gaze forward and kept walking in silence. Sirius stared disbelievingly at him.

"James is in the Hospital Wing," Sirius said very clearly. "Snivellus hurt him that bad. Like I told you he would! That is unacceptable and I don't understand how you can be mad at me when you should be mad at Snivellus."

"What I don't understand is how you think attacking Snape is going to do anything except lowering you to his level," said Remus.

"It's about justice," Sirius told him.

"Oh, so you don't want to help James after all," said Remus sarcastically. "It's only about your vendetta."

"It should be our vendetta," Sirius pointed out. "Or maybe you don't care about James?"

Remus made a theatrical sigh to show how annoyed he was.

Sirius couldn't understand how Remus was thinking. Attacking Snivellus wouldn't make it any easier for Snivellus to figure out that Remus was a werewolf, so that really wasn't an issue. And why would James want Lily if she wouldn't accept he fought back? It was doing nothing that caused the real damage. That way they showed Snivellus he could do whatever he wanted and they wouldn't lift a finger to stop him.

It was no point arguing with Remus any longer though since he didn't seem to want to be convinced.

But that didn't stop Sirius. At least he was going to do something about it.

The rest of the way back to the Gryffindor Tower was spent in silence.


Sirius walked slowly along the corridor wall. The empty corridor was dimly lit by the few torches which had been left burning. It wasn't curfew yet, but not many students were still up and moving.

Peter's claws dug uncomfortably into Sirius' shoulder as the rat tried to steady himself on the small area. It was worth it, however, since it was so much more comfortable being the only human under the invisibility cloak. Now Sirius was actually able to move very freely without having to worry about the cloak not covering his whole body.

Sirius and Peter were on their way to the Slytherin common room. Sirius didn't exactly have a plan of what he should do to Snivellus, but was sure he would come up with something.

Sirius, Remus and Peter had visited James in the Hospital Wing after dinner. Madam Pomfrey had healed James by then, but James had told them that she'd said it was dark magic that had knocked him unconscious.

Dark magic.

And still, James and Remus thought they shouldn't seek revenge on Snivellus.

Remus had been pissed when Sirius and Peter left the Gryffindor Tower ten minutes ago. Honestly, Sirius didn't care. Remus could be mad. Sirius' best friend was still lying in the Hospital Wing because of Snivellus. That was something he couldn't forgive.

Sirius kept sneaking through the corridor, soon reaching the gigantic stairwell. This part of the castle was lit as weakly as the corridor. There was no one in sight, but a few staircases were nonetheless moving across the room, transporting nothing but cold air. Sirius stepped on a staircase close to him, making his way down. When Sirius finally reached the bottom of the stairwell he took a right into a corridor, heading towards the marble staircase.

The corridor which led to the marble staircase was also connected to the corridor where the library was located. Memories of Sirius meeting with Regulus that afternoon washed over him.

Ugh. He had been so stupid. It had been way too soon to bring up Voldemort. What had he been thinking?

Sirius turned away from the sight of the corridor and was just about to step out on the marble staircase when he suddenly heard a very familiar voice coming from behind.

Snivellus.

Automatically, Sirius spun around, which caused Peter to lose his grip. Sirius felt the little body swing dangerously close to the edge and made a sudden halt, his hand shooting up to steady Pete before he started to fall.

"Sorry, Pete," Sirius mumbled, steading the rat with his hand.

When he was sure Peter wouldn't fall Sirius started to make his way down the corridor which led to the library. It was as poorly lit as the rest of the school, but he immediately spotted Snivellus and Lily standing by the closed door that led to the library. Sirius stopped.

What the hell were they doing together?

"But you're not listening to me!" Snivellus exclaimed angrily.

"I am listening to you," said Lily cooly. "I am not, however, changing my mind. Just because I listen to you doesn't mean you'll convince me."

Sirius immediately felt soothed. They were fighting. All was right with the world.

"But if you could just-" Snivellus began.

"No!" Lily interrupted. "Sev, I don't want your apology," she said in a final tone.

"Apparently James Potter is allowed to make apologies," said Snivellus surly, looking like a spoiled child being told off.

Lily's eyes narrowed when Snivellus brought up James.

"I saw you hanging out with him," Snivellus continued.

"Great to know you're spying on me," said Lily sarcastically.

"I'm not spying on you! I just happen to see it."

Sure you did, Sirius thought. Spying on people was what Snivellus did best.

"How can you even compare yourself to James Potter?" Lily continued. "He was a bloody douchebag, but he still didn't come close to your level."

A rush of satisfaction filled Sirius. Ha! Lily prefered James. That must really sting for Snivellus.

"How can you even say that? We were friends!" Snivellus pathetically exclaimed.

"Were, yes," said Lily, emphasizing on the past tense. "Believe me, Sev," she continued, now sounding less sharp. "I wish we could still be friends. But we can't."

Snivellus looked startled, and, for a moment, hope flashed across his face.

"I've changed," he said, sounding calmer.

"No, you haven't," said Lily firmly. "You still have the same opinions. You're still hanging out with those people-"

"I don't. I'll stop hanging out with them-"

"I don't want you to stop in an attempt to impress me," Lily snapped. "I want you to do it because you want to." She paused for a moment, staring Snivellus down. "You really haven't changed a bit, have you?"

"I don't even like them," said Snivellus weakly. He went quiet again. "I miss you."

God, could he be more pathetic?

Lily was quiet as she stared at Snivellus. After a moment she averted her gaze.

"Goodbye, Sev." Lily made an attempt to walk away, but Snivellus took a step towards her and grabbed her wrist.

"Wait!" he cried.

Tensing up, Sirius instinctively stepped closer, wanting to protect Lily. Who did Snivellus think he was? Him physically trying to stop Lily from leaving showed what a creep he really was. What if he would try to use dark magic on her too? It was good that Sirius was here...

Lily had stopped abruptly when Snivellus touched her, but she didn't look scared.

"Let go of me," she demanded.

Snivellus immediately retreated his hand like he'd burned himself.

"I'm sorry," Snivellus hastily apologised.

Lily didn't respond. Instead, she turned around and walked out of the corridor.

Good.

Sirius kept his eyes on Snivellus, making sure he wasn't taking out his wand or anything. Snivellus didn't seem to be in the mood for hexing old friends though. He stayed still, staring in the direction Lily had disappeared. His hands hanged lifelessly along his sides.

Sirius stood to Snivellus' right. Invisible. Snivellus had no idea he was there.

It was the ultimate opportunity for an attack.

Sirius reached his hand inside his robes and grabbed his wand as he carefully took a couple of steps backwards. Peter started to move around on his shoulder, the little claws once again digging into Sirius' skin.

Sirius stopped right behind Snivellus, carefully raising his wand and pointing it at Snivellus.

Now was the time to do it.

A second past.

Now.

Snivellus suddenly started walking down the corridor.

Swearing internally, Sirius steadied his grip around the wand.

He could still easily hit him. Like shooting a fish in a barrel…

Speeding up, Snivillius' step echoed in the empty corridor as he quickly walked through it, soon disappearing behind the corner.

Sirius stayed completely still, appalled by his own actions.

"Fuck," he swore under his breath, lowering his wand.

What was wrong with him? He had had the perfect opportunity...

"I guess I'll do as James said," Sirius mumbled to Peter, trying to convince himself as much as Peter he'd made the right call. "It really should be his decision."

He tucked away his wand before following Lily's and Snivillius' lead and walked out of the corridor. With Peter still on his shoulder he started to make his way back to the Gryffindor Tower.

Now he wanted to sleep.