Madam Pomfrey ushered Jill into the Hospital Wing as usual. It was cold. For some reason, more snow had fallen this month than in December. Jill didn't really have much energy to pursue this thought though. Her head was spinning and her limbs were shaking. She'd gotten strange looks from her classmates all day. When at last it was time to go to the Hospital Wing, she'd almost fainted. She was getting weaker.

Lupin stood up from his perch on the hospital bed, looking worried.

"Come on, you two." Madam Pomfrey said in exasperation. "We haven't got all day!" Lupin hurried over, and the three of them walked out of the Hospital Wing, with Jill now clutching her stomach.

"Lupin, you really need to-" she began, but he held up a hand. He looked a bit confused.

"Why don't you call me Remus? It's weird someone calling me Remus all the time."

Jill blinked, then puffed out her cheeks.

"Remus." She emphasized on the word, and his mouth twitched. "You really need to keep to the edge of the walls. And be quieter. Someone could hear us."

He raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Neither of them did, for quite a long time.

When at last they reached the Whomping Willow, Jill was heaving for breath. She felt as though she'd run around Hogwarts three times. Her stomach lurched, her vision blurred and a vile taste came to her mouth.

"Oh, no." She muttered weakly, before she turned to the side and vomited all over the grass. Remus turned away, and Madam Pomfrey looked up at the sky. When she had stopped retching, the matron vanished the vomit with a flick of her wand. Jill wiped her mouth on the back of her sleeve. Madam Pomfrey was now opening the entrance to the Whomping Willow, the stick levitating in mid-air.

Severus stalked the passageways of Hogwarts castle, his every nerve on edge. It wasn't yet curfew, but almost everyone was tucked away in their common rooms, protected from the cold outside. It would be suspicious if he was seen lurking around at this time. Outside, the last few rays of the setting sun cast an orange glow across the snow-covered grounds. Purple-coloured clouds drifted across the sky. Night was beginning to fall.

A few minutes ago, three figures had made their way down a hallway, walking as though they hadn't wanted to be seen. They had opened a small door in a wall, left the castle behind them, creeped silently across the lawn, and towards the Whomping Willow. One of these people was Madam Pomfrey. The other two – if Severus Snape's suspicions were correct – were werewolves.

Snape had watched all this, and waited a minute before following them. He wanted to keep a safe distance.

Severus turned down corridor after corridor, his memory serving as a map. He had the odd feeling he was being followed, but he could hear nothing.

The torchlight cast eerie shadows on the walls. The sounds of small creatures running down the corridor could be heard. This part of the castle was rarely visited, and cobwebs clustered at the sconces. A few tiny windows allowed a view of the grounds, yet the air was still choked with the smell of dust and disuse.

Down the hallway Severus walked, the sense he was being tracked growing stronger by the second. Was that footsteps he could hear? No. It was just a mouse. Snape approached the door in the wall Madam Pomfrey and the werewolves had left through, casting a simple "alohomora" to unlock it. Severus pushed on the handle, and it swung open. He was so going to catch those werewolves. Expose them for what they were. Cold air buffeted him as he looked onto the grounds.

"Severus!" A startled voice cut through Snape's thoughts. He whipped around, wand out, only to find himself face-to-face with Lily Evans.

"Lily." He breathed a sigh of relief and put his wand away.

"What are you doing?!" Lily's face was a mixture of curiosity and indignation.

"I'm aloud to go outside, aren't I? It's not curfew yet." Severus replied mulishly. Would Madam Pomfrey already be too far ahead for him to catch up? "Anyway, were you following me?"

Lily waved the question away.

"Opening locked doors and slinking away to the grounds? Why didn't you just go out through the entrance hall?" Lily narrowed her eyes. "It's knee deep in snow out there and freezing cold, so I find it hard to believe you wanted to go out for a stroll."

Severus hesitated, fumbling for an explanation. He gave up.

"Lily…" He began. Snape hoped she wouldn't react badly, and he could be on his way. It might not be best to mention the Thompson girl just yet. "You know my suspicions that Lupin is a werewolf?"

Lily stared at him, for once with nothing to say. Severus continued.

"He was walking down this corridor with Madam Pomfrey, and he looked really ill, and it's the full moon tonight, and then they walked out the door, and I just wondered-"

"So you followed him." Lily interrupted, finding her thoughts at last. She crossed her arms. "You followed him and you're going to sneak up on him and demand to know if he's a werewolf."

From the sound of his best friend's tone, Severus didn't think Lily was going to side with him on this matter anytime soon.

"You make it sound as though I'm doing something bad." He grumbled.

"You can't possibly be saying you think this is right-"

"I'm saving Hogwarts! I'm exposing two dangerous creatures! I'm helping the students!"

"Two?" Lily said softly. "Who exactly do you think is the other Lycanthrope, Severus?"

Snape bit his lip. He shouldn't have said that. He knew Lily wouldn't like it if he told her Jill Thompson was a werewolf.

He muttered it anyway. Lily's eyebrows flew up into her hair.

"That's a beastly thing to say about someone." She said. "That's a horrible thing to say about someone, actually."

"But I have proof!" Severus kept thinking of how far away Lupin and Thompson must be by now. "I saw them walk down here-"

"That's hardly proof! It mightn't have been them, or they might've been going for a walk- Madam Pomfrey was probably just passing by- really, Severus!"

"But-"

"And let's say they are werewolves, which I don't think they are, how would you feel if you were them?"

Severus stopped talking, his mouth wide open. He tried to speak but failed.

"Just leave it alone, Sev." Lily looked disappointed in him. They both stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Suddenly, Lily's face softened, and a look of guilt passed over it.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'm sorry." Lily Evans reached behind Severus Snape, and shut the door, cutting the cold wind off. "Do you want to play chess in the Great Hall?"

Snape nodded, a sense of relief that he hadn't offended his friend entirely.

He took one last look at the door behind him, before following the red-haired Gryffindor down the corridor. It didn't matter he hadn't followed Lupin and Thompson now. They were probably already too far away.

A/N: Sneaky Snape.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this story! This was a very fun chapter to write and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you to BellatrixTheStar and ReadBooksWriteThings for their wonderful reveiws!

-Always A Dragon