Remus was halfway to his charms classroom when he was grabbed roughly by the elbows. Anybody else would have screamed or produced some kind of hex, but Remus, who was used to it by now, merely let himself be dragged away. A few seconds later, he looked down into the eyes of James, Sirius and Peter.
"I have charms class, guys." He reminded them wearily. Unsurprisingly, this did not affect his friends in the slightest. James seemed positively bouncing with unrestrained glee. The four of them were tucked into a niche in the wall, which was covered by a tapestry. They were practically undetectable.
"James was thinking-" Sirius announced.
"How unimaginable." Remus interrupted, already stepping backwards. "What is not unimaginable is how late-"
"Shut up, will you?" James asked, grabbing his friend's elbow. He had a huge grin on his face, like a child who has discovered the stash of chocolate. "I was thinking – the other day – in the greenhouses – well, one of them, anyway – and it's the right time of year – and, I mean, why not start now-"
James voice was growing louder by the word, and so far none of them had made any sense to Remus.
"Spit it out, James!" Remus snapped, impatient. At this rate he was going to miss all of charms class. James swallowed.
"We have the mandrake leaves." He blurted out.
Remus's eyebrows drew together with an audible clack. He didn't need to ask what the leaves were for – he knew the answer well enough. For the past six months or so, James, Remus and Peter had been deciphering runes and chasing old scrolls, trying to figure out how to become Animagus's. Less than a month ago, they had deciphered the runes and found all the scrolls, they had set their sights on the first step: obtaining a Mandrake leaf. It wasn't an easy task. First they had checked the greenhouses, all seven of them. When that had yielded nothing, they began to suspect that there might be some mandrake in Slughorn's stores. They had searched for a way in, and found it locked with an anti-alohomora.
James was still grinning.
"Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?"
Remus could see he wouldn't be going to charms anytime soon.
"How did you do it? he questioned tiredly.
"Peter her," James dipped his head at the small, mousy boy, who had gone a delicate shade of pink "managed to distract old Sluggy by asking him about potions. I, meanwhile, slipped away and – you'll never believe it – picked the lock with these." James triumphantly pulled out a set of muggle lockpicks. Remus clenched his eyes, berating himself for his stupidity. Lockpicks! Why hadn't anyone thought of that?! It was such a simple idea…
Then Remus suddenly remembered the Mandrake leaf, and what his friends were doing. For him. He hesitated – he had asked this question multiple times now.
"Are you sure you want to do this? You have a choice, you can turn back-"
He was met with stony glares.
"If you think me and Peter are going to give up after all the trouble we've been to, mate, you evidently have no idea who you're talking to." James said stubbornly.
Remus sighed, though inwardly he was proud of his friends.
"I'm off to charms." He walked out, bag swung over his shoulder.
Three Weeks Later
Severus walked down the corridor to the potions classroom. The doors hadn't yet opened, but he hadn't gone there to wait. He knew that Lupin would be there early, the idiotic little teachers pet. If only they knew what he was…
Severus stopped outside the dungeon doors. The candles in their brackets were flickering, casting an eerie glow around the place. Like always, Lupin was there, waiting idly. He looked slightly paler than usual, most likely a result of the full moon being two days away. Lupin started as Severus stepped out of the shadows – evidently Lupin had not heard him coming.
"Lupin." Snape dipped his head in acknowledgement.
"Snape." Lupin replied coldly, having gotten over the shock. They said nothing else for some time, one waiting for the doors to open, the other pretending to. Finally, Severus spoke up.
"I heard your mother is ill." He glanced at Lupin. Severus felt a little ball of triumph grow in his chest; Lupin's hands were clenched.
"Yes, she is." Lupin said carefully, quietly.
"It's odd that she gets sick so often, isn't it?"
"It's not odd. She has a very bad immune system."
He was lying, Severus could tell. He was nothing if not perceptive. He paused, waiting for the right moment.
"And you travel home to meet her."
"Yes."
"Once a month." Severus said, smirking.
Lupin stiffened. He knew Severus was onto him now. Severus had to be very careful.
"I don't appreciate these questions. I assure you, there is nothing unusual-" Lupin said angrily.
"I didn't know that there was a path to the Hogwarts train next to the Whomping Willow."
Lupin glared at Severus, the dim light dancing of the scars on his face. It was unnerving sight, even for Severus, whose hand started to creep for his wand.
"I'm afraid I've no idea what you're talking about." Lupin remarked coldly. With that, he swept from the dungeons, up the corridor and out of sight.
Severus raised his eyebrows. He knew when he was being lied to. After a few more minutes, the sound of Gryffindors and Slytherins on their way to potions class could be heard. When the crowd finally appeared, Lupin didn't look at Severus once.
Severus knew he wouldn't get any more information out of Lupin, and was left to wondering who the other Lycanthrope might be. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he hardly noticed Lily chattering next to him during potions class.
A hour later, he was walking up the stairs to the library, intent on some more research. He heard the sound of arguing coming from the landing below him. Two Gryffindor second years, by the looks of it. Severus smirked, amused by the sight.
"-It's been going on for months now!" The shorter, blonde-haired girl was saying. "Ever since the holidays you've never been the same!"
The taller one muttered something.
"But that's just it!" blonde-hair shouted. "You're always tired! You never listen to me! Sometimes I think you don't even care…"
How pathetic. Two little girls squabbling over nothing.
"It's not like I have a choice, Anna." The tall one fidgeted, seemingly anxious about something. "I can't choose when I'm tired."
Something about what the girl had said struck Severus's attention; he leant over the rails, peering closely at the pair. They were far away -their voices had easily travelled upwards, that was what made them sound so clear- but Severus could just make out their faces. The taller one was pale, in a sickly way, and her voice was husky and shaky. She was exhausted. It couldn't be… Perhaps. The girl was probably the same height as Madam Pomfrey, after all.
"You ignore me constantly, Jill." Anna whined. "I just wish you'd pay some more attention."
Jill sighed, clearly frustrated. If only Severus could get a look at her face, see whether the second-year had any scars like that that Lupin…
"Fine." Jill replied, after a few seconds hesitation. The blonde smiled, her previous anger evaporated. "Come on, let's get some lunch."
The two turned away, walking down the stairs. But Severus smiled, for he'd seen the second-year's face. A long, dark scar ran across her cheek.
Just like Lupins.
Just like a werewolf's.
Severus was nothing if not perceptive.
A/N: Due to my computer apparently having a squabble with , I was unable to update regularly. BUT I will be doing so now, so keep reading!
Thank-you to EchoTheHybrid and ReadBooksWriteThings for their wonderful reviews! Happy 2020 everyone!
-Always A Dragon