A/N: This story is part of a larger yet-to-be-published wip that follows Severus and my OC, Rose Evans, through the Marauders era. Submitted for the Quidditch League competition, season 10. **Rated T for brief coarse language and violence. PROMPTS: As Beater 2 – some one being possessed. Optional – 3 (hiding) and 14 (coughing)**
Severus watched as Black stood for a moment, out of reach of the branches of the Whomping Willow, just as he had seen him do several times before. After listening for a while to ensure that the tree was indeed sleeping, he darted up to the trunk and disappeared into the crag at its roots. Severus had observed this behavior night after night on the full moon from his hiding place amongst the standing stones outside the courtyard. Now, though, he would attempt to copy it. No, he didn't know for sure that Lily had already gone ahead. Certainly it would be easier to wait here and stop her. . . . But what if he was already too late?
Inhaling sharply, Severus gathered his courage before plunging down the hill in a jog toward the tree, completely unaware that another watched him from the shadows of the courtyard above.
He was careful to copy Black exactly. He paused just out of reach of the tree and avoided stepping on any fallen branches that would alert it to his presence. Sensing no movement from its hoary bows, he again forced himself forward towards the hole at its base. As he was descending into the darkness, he heard the tree creak into awareness; he felt the trunk twisting under his hands. A branch swat at him, but he was already safely in the passage. He cursed himself for having woken the tree – for not observing Black closely enough to figure out how he had avoided doing so. Now it would be hell coming back out. That is, if we make it out, he reminded himself. But that was of no concern right now.
With a flick of his wand, the tunnel was awash in a dim blue-white light. The stones, slick with moisture and algae, stretched out into a black forever. He cautiously began creeping down the passage into the wolf's den, every muscle in his body tensed.
oOo
Rose swore she would jinx Severus the next time they met! The fool had woken the tree. Despite having crept out to watch the Marauders disappear amongst the roots of the ancient willow night after night, he had somehow failed to notice that, invariably, each one approached the same place on the trunk before descending down into the passage.
Now she would have to deal with the consequences. She crept from her hiding place between shadows and started strolling down the slope towards the now very much awake tree. Well before she got near it, though, she froze. Fast steps echoed behind hers.
She drew her wand and spun around, the tip coming to rest mere inches from James Potter's forehead.
"Don't hurt me!" His hands flew up to cover his face.
"Give me a reason I shouldn't transfigure you into the cockroach you are, Potter," Rose hissed. He blinked at her dumbly in the moonlight.
"What are you doing?" he asked urgently, changing the subject.
"I'm going after Severus because your idiot friend is trying to lure him to his death!" she hissed again. "Where are you going? To help finish him off?"
"No! I just found out from Peter and came down to stop him!"
"Why should I believe you?"
He blinked dumbly again. If Rose wasn't in such a hurry to get to Severus, she would have hexed him to hell just for the look on his face.
"Because if anything happens to Snivellous Lily would never forgive me," he said plainly. Rose was taken aback by his bluntness. She stood looking at him for a moment. He had a strong desire to shrink away from her; her eyes were hawkish and severe. Her look was much older than the girl who gave it and terrifyingly reminiscent of McGonagall. Another moment passed during which Rose evaluated his motives.
"Fine. Come on. Hopefully he hasn't been minced by Lupin yet."
Without another word, they set off running towards the willow.
oOo
After a quarter of an hour, Severus finally felt the floor of the tunnel begin to slope upwards. He had moved forward slowly, fearful that Black or a transformed Lupin would be lying in wait in some darkened side passage. But there were none. His only companions in the tunnel were a few rats that scurried away from his wand light back into the darkness.
Another couple of minutes walking upwards and the end of the passage finally appeared before him. Rusted iron rungs of a ladder ascended the final wall. In the wand light, he could see that a trap door had been left open.
He froze, immediately extinguishing the light, and stood unmoving for a long while, listening for any sound that would give away the positions of his enemies or the location of Lily. All was silent except for a faint scratching noise that came from far overhead. Severus's stomach sank in dread. Was he too late? He pushed terrible images from his mind and force himself up the ladder.
He popped his head above the floor, ready to curse anything that moved. Nothing did. He found himself in the ransacked remnants of a kitchen. Cobwebs and dust clung to every surface. Immediately, he noticed two sets of prints in the dust – those of a human, and those resembling the paws of a dog. A massive dog. At that moment a sickening howl sounded a floor or two above him. His head snapped upward, heart skipping a beat. High-pitched whimpering could then be heard, and he feared the worst.
In a moment of panic, Severus found the courage to sprint up the stairs, three steps at a time, trying desperately to locate the source of the sound. On the third floor he came to a door, through which he could hear the snuffling of a beast and the cries of something else. He crept up to the door, preparing himself for what he might find. As he approached, the snuffling grew quiet. Certainly the beast could sense him now.
He stood near the door, listening. The lumbering weight of the werewolf approached. He could hear the floorboards whine under its paws. Severus waited until he was sure it was mere inches from the door. In one swift motion, he blew the door from its hinges.
As he had hoped, it caught the werewolf fulling in the chest and sent it flying backwards into the far wall where it fell to the floor momentarily dazed. Using this moment to his advantage, Severus entered the room, quickly scanning it. In the corner, a great black dog sat calmly on its hunches, howling in what Severus could only describe as. . . .laughter?
An absolutely blood-chilling realization finally swept over him. It was a set-up. The blasted good-for-nothing Black actually had the wits about him to Set. Severus. Up.
Whatever courage he had assumed an instant ago suddenly vanished, draining like water from a sink from his stomach. Severus's eyes widened in horror as he watched the beast slowly recover itself. The pieces of broken door fell away as the werewolf rose on its hunches, shaking off the dust that had covered it when it was thrown to the floor. Severus backed up slowly as he watched its eyes constrict and a snarl curl on its face, showing fangs glistening with cursed saliva. He raised his wand in defense, but found himself falling backwards into the hall as he tripped over the hem of his ill-fitting robes. The werewolf lunged. He raised his hand and closed his eyes against the attack, preparing for the pain that would come in the next instant as claws raked through his flesh. Echoing in the back of his mind was a girl screaming his name.
The pain he expected never came. He felt himself being drug backwards. Daring to open his eyes, he watched as a stag took the blow meant for Severus with its rack of antlers. He scrambled backwards, still on the floor. Slowly, as if underwater, words drifted to his ears.
"Severus! C'mon! Get up! Severus!"
He turned. For an instant he swore it was Lily, his heart flooding with relief to see her in one piece. But no. The familiar flaming hair was muted. It took him a moment to realize that he was looking up into the wide-eyed face of her younger sister.
"Severus! Come on!"
So very slowly, Severus scrambled to his feet. Rose clung to him, pulling him the the direction of the stairs. He took one last look in the direction of the werewolf to see that it was cornered and held in place by the stag's antlers. Curiously, though, the werewolf seemed careful not to harm it. This was the last thought he had before being pulled down the stairs and back into the darkness of the tunnel.
Rose force him through the trapdoor with a harsh push on the back of his neck before climbing through herself and slamming the door overhead. They stood in the inky darkness for a long while, focusing on breathing again.
Eventually, the tip of Rose's wand illuminated and cast a pale light through the dark. Across from her, sitting against the base of the slimy wall was the palest-faced Severus she had ever seen. She turned away from him to hide the tears that gathered in her eyes, though, in another moment, she roughly grabbed his arm, signaling for him to get up. She marched him back into the darkness of the tunnel. Neither spoke. Severus couldn't be sure, but he swore he heard Rose softly sobbing in the dark.
When they emerged into the moonlight, it seemed like not even the tree had the heart to attack them. Severus's knees gave out and he doubled-over and was sick. Rose, every inch of her body shaking, fell back to the ground. They sat in silence until a faint rustling at the base of the tree indicated that someone else was coming through the passage. Rose barely lifted her wand in the direction of the tree, not caring if Lupin himself emerged again from its roots. Severus was still on his hands and knees in the grass, coughing and sputtering with back turned towards the willow.
Two boys emerged from the opening. Potter held Black roughly by the robes around his neck and threw him to the ground as soon as they were out of the tunnel.
"You idiot! Do you have any idea what would have happened to Mooney if your stupid little plan had worked!" James spat. "Do you even care?"
"About Snivellous? No," Sirius said bitterly from his place on the ground.
"What about Remus, you idiot!"
Sirius was silent.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw a figure rushing towards the scene. She found her feet just in time to see Severus collide with Sirius.
"No! Severus!"
"Get off me, you slimy fucking git!" Sirius howled from his place on the ground. Severus had pinned him down and dug his wand to into his neck.
James and Rose ran up to intervene.
"Touch me and I swear to Merlin I'll kill him!" Severus spat. The tone of his voice was so unnatural and unhinged that it sent chills through Rose. She didn't doubt for a second that he was serious.
"Get off me, Snape!" Sirius hissed, attempting to free himself. But it was Severus's turn to be out for blood.
"What would make us equal," he hissed so quietly that Sirius stopped struggling in order to hear him. "Should I cut your eyes out? Turn your intestines to jelly? Rip your scalp off?"
"Sev! Sev. He's not worth it," Rose was trying to negotiate. "Sev, c'mon. Let's just take it to Dumbledore, alright? Sev? He's not worth it. Please." She was begging.
"No. I don't trust Dumbledore to administer an. . . .appropriate punishment."
Rose couldn't see his face, but she knew there was murder in his eyes.
"How about I give you the scars I would have got if your plan had worked." He spat in Sirius's face and lifted his wand to curse him. But never had the chance, for Rose sent it sailing into the darkness.
Sirius took this opportunity to flip Severus off of him and scramble to his feet. Severus, as if possessed, lunged at him again, not caring that he had no wand; he would have torn him apart with his own hands if James hadn't held him back.
"Let me go, Potter!" he raged like a crazed animal.
"Don't let him go, James," said Rose.
Severus made a spitting sound and tried to worm his way out of James's grasp. He stopped abruptly upon seeing that Rose was approaching Sirius, who stood sheepishly massaging his ribs.
Rose held her wand to his face, forcing him to back against the trunk of the tree.
"If you ever, ever, mess with Severus again, Black, I will hex you so badly that you won't be able to recognize yourself in the mirror. And I won't stop him next time from doing the same. Understood?"
Sirius stood silent for a long time glaring at her before eventually agreeing.
"Fine, I won't bother Snivellous again," he said grudgingly.
"Make sure you don't," Rose growled. She lowered her wand and turned away before abruptly turning back to punch him in the face.
She hit him squarely in the nose and felt it snap and give way. Sirius shouted, holding both his hands to his face as blood covered them.
"Better get inside, Black," she said coldly. "Wouldn't want any of the werewolves getting a wiff of your blood during the full moon, now would we?"