Boy-Snape

"Can we stop?" boy-Snape asked after what had probably been a few hours of them thrashing blindly through the forest's underbrush in search of a river. Or a lake. Hell, any water right about now would be brilliant. Sirius was getting thirsty. "I'm tired!" complained Snape from behind. Like before, Sirius ignored his whining and continued to crush his way through the foliage. He couldn't be that poorly if he still had the energy to whinge at Sirius. He chanced a glance skyward and saw that through the tree-canopies the sky was quickly turning the purple-blue of late evening. Sirius grit his teeth. Fuck. They were going to be in trouble soon if they didn't find water.

"Please," the kid begged, voice now small and distant.

Sirius pursed his lips. 'Please, huh?' he thought, 'he's really trying to manipulate me now.' Sirius looked over his shoulder then to see Snape had stopped following him and was a good yard away from him now. Aggravated, he groaned aloud and started to stomp back toward the boy. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "We need to find water or a village before it's too dark to see!"

The kid shrank in on himself the closer Sirius came and even raised his good arm up to shield his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'll keep walking." He peeked through his fingers and tacked on, for what was probably Sirius's sake, "I swear."

Sirius stared down at him a moment, uncertain. Boy-Snape was acting like he expected Sirius to box him around the ear. It made his gut give a weird, uncomfortable twist. Like many things he didn't like, Sirius decided to quickly squash and ignore the feeling. He'd gotten the answer he wanted. The kid said he'd quit being a whiny baby and keep moving so they wouldn't be without water when the stars came out. He nodded at the kid. "Good," he said. "Don't dawdle." Sirius then turned back around and retraced his steps until he was back at where he'd stopped. Once there, he looked over his shoulders to see the kid was only a handful of steps behind. Nodding in satisfaction to himself, he continued stomping through the brush; crunching branches and plants beneath his feet.

They continued walking in silence for some time, Sirius glancing over his shoulder every now to make sure Snape hadn't lagged too much and occasionally barking some less than kind encouragement at him. "Hurry up!" he yelled at more than one point and a little while later, he shouted, his voice growing hoarse from use and thirst, "Move faster you little brat! Or I'll leave you behind for werewolves to eat!"

What was probably a couple of minutes after that last gem, Sirius heard something that sounded like the kid falling to the ground followed by him crying out in pain. "Shit!" cursed Sirius as he spun around and strode over to the kid. Boy-Snape was attempting to push himself up on his one good arm, but it was shaking too much and he'd just barely get himself off the ground before he was face-down eating dirt again. "Ah, shit," Sirius swore, unable to watch Snape struggle anymore. Reaching down, he grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and pulled him to his feet. At first, Sirius tried to let go of the kid, but stopped and strengthened his hold when Snape's knees started to knock together. He was just going to fall again if Sirius didn't support him and who knew if he'd break something else if that happened?

Sirius finally looked down at the kid's face after he had him held upright and found it was red and dirty and he was leaking what precious little water he had left in him from his wide, terrified eyes. "I'm s-sorry," he sobbed. "I won't make you s-stop again! Don't l-let the werewolves eat me!"

Sirius fucking despised Snape. He'd throw a party for Hogwarts and supply all of the illegal booze he could get his hands if the bloke would just drop dead. Hell, he'd consider giving up his wand-hand if it meant Snape would cease to exist. Yet… As he stared down at this quaking, terrified, exhausted little boy Sirius realized he didn't hate him. Not this boy-Snape who was crying and pleading and apologizing all at once and promising things he didn't even understand if it meant Sirius just wouldn't leave him to the werewolves. This poor kid. This poor hurt, exhausted, scared, confused little kid.

"Fuck me," Sirius said. "Ah, fuck me. What the Hell have I been doing?" Reaching down, he picked the kid up and ignored the way he weakly pushed and hit him, trying to get away from him. "I got you," he told the boy as he situated boy-Snape's legs around his waist and brought the kid's good arm around his neck. "You're fine now. I'm going to do the walking and you're just going to rest." Giving the kid's back a pat as he started to cling to Sirius with all the meager strength he had left, he whispered, "No one's getting left behind for the werewolves, okay? It's you and me all the way, kid. I'll get us out of these woods and back to Hogwarts before you know it."

Through his exhausted sobs, boy-Snape whimpered, "I want my mum."

Sirius sighed and patted the boy's back once more. While Sirius may have made making Snape's life miserable something of a daily goal at Hogwarts, this felt wrong. This wasn't Snape. Not yet, anyway. He was just a little kid now. It made him feel especially crummy because Sirius had managed to make Snape, someone he knew to be prideful and stubborn and infuriatingly hard to crack, beg for his mother. Boy or no.

"I bet if we ask Madam Pomfrey she will bring your mum to Hogwarts for a bit before she makes you the right age," he offered in a softer, kind voice.

Boy-Snape's cries having now quieted to just the occasional whimper, whispered, "Really? She'll call my mum for me?"

"Yeah, kid."

The boy fell silent then and as Sirius continued to plod desperately through the forest, he felt the kid's head roll off his shoulder and to his chest. A glance down at Snape's face showed he passed out. Readjusting his grip on the kid a little, Sirius muttered to himself, "Probably for the best."

Licking his chapped lips, Sirius hoped he found water soon. He didn't know how much longer he could keep going like this. 'Or make it back to Hogwarts at this rate,' he thought darkly. Immediately after, Sirius shook his head to rid himself of the dark, intrusive voice. He couldn't think like that. It would only lead to bad things for not only him, but the poor kid in his arms.

Your thoughts on the chapter? Sirius? Kid Severus?

Thanks so much for reading :)