Chapter 2: Trailing Snape
"Hey, Remus, what are the ingredients of a pepper-up potion?" Peter looked up from his homework, chewing his quill.
"I'm not going to do your homework for you. Here, find it in this book. I think it's after the bit on antidotes." Remus heaved a large and thick book onto the desk beside Peter. He had recovered from his illness a few days ago and was now just as he usually was. He had told them all what had actually happened: He had been planning on visiting his sick mother, but this illness had caught him unawares, and it was so contagious that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let him have any visitors. But, he assured them, it was all better now, and they had no chance of getting sick.
Since Remus had missed two days of school, in the hospital wing, he now had to catch up with the homework he had missed, which included a three-foot essay on the events of 1589, the year of the Great Wizarding War between France and Poland. This was what was currently keeping him in the library, while his friends wanted him to go outside and play quidditch with them. Peter was still behind on his Potions homework, but then, he always was.
"Who cares about the Great Wizarding Bore? No-one even dies!" Sirius had whinged, when Remus told him about his essay.
"Such a morbid mind. I have to finish this for History of Magic. I would rather not have to do this, but, I do, so I'm sorry. Take it up with Professor Binns if you must."
"Ok then, I will." Sirius brightened at the idea; then left to find his Professor.
So currently James was sitting around with Remus and Peter, waiting for Sirius to get back. And probably watching Lily, thought Remus. He was getting on with his essay because he was sure that Sirius would not be able to change his Professor's mind. And anyway, it was already half-finished.
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Sirius left Professor Binns' office disappointedly. He hadn't been able to get Remus off the hook. He had argued with the Professor for ages, but without any luck. He needed something to console himself. As he turned and went down the stairs on his left, he looked around for inspiration. He saw a couple of suits of armour, some portraits where the occupants were conversing avidly, plenty of stairs, a Ravenclaw first year and two Slytherins. The Slytherins were whispering together. They were second-years, like Sirius, and he recognised them as friends – or rather, "acquaintances" of Severus Snape – Snape had no friends. But this had given Sirius an idea…
As he walked back to the library, deep in thought, he heard a growl from behind him. Startled, he turned around. On the wall was the image of a great, grey wolf, standing alone in a dark and snowy forest. It growled again at him, and he hurried back to meet his friends, his plan almost fully-formed already.
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"I've finished!" Remus gave a satisfied smile and rolled up his parchment, putting his things away in his bag. Peter had already finished his Potions, and he and James had been discussing the next quidditch match – Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw (Lily had left). Peter was barracking for Ravenclaw, while James was certain that Hufflepuff could win hands down any day. They both looked up at him.
"So can we play quidditch now?" That seemed to be all James could think about. Ever.
"But there's only three of us, that would be unfair… speaking of which, Sirius should be back by now." As he spoke, the library doors burst open.
"Hey guys! I have a plan!" yelled Sirius. After Madam Pince, the librarian, came over and 'shushed' him ("This is a library!"), he motioned to James, Peter and Remus to follow him outside.
"What is it?" James was always interested in plans. However, Remus was slightly concerned. He knew Sirius, and his plans, out of any of the group's, were always the most harmful.
"It isn't dangerous, is it?" His worry showed through his pale face. Sirius however quickly dispelled his worries.
"Of course not. We're just going to give Snivellus a little scare… We are going to make him paranoid. We'll make him think he's being followed… by a werewolf." He grinned wickedly, and two sets of eyes in front of him lit up at the idea. Remus, however, was not as disposed to the idea. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
Sirius misinterpreted his uneasiness. "Come on Remus, it's not going to hurt anyone!" Remus closed his eyes. It isn't hurting anyone, he thought. Get a grip, Remus. He nodded weakly.
"Sure." He gave a wan smile. "You're right. It's fine."
James looked at him, concerned. "Are you okay?" Remus quickly nodded
"I'm fine, just a slight headache."James held his gaze for a few seconds, the same worried expression on his face. "Really, I'm fine."
James nodded slowly and dropped his gaze. However, he remained silent and appeared deep in thought. Sirius looked at him strangely.
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Peter wearily tramped upstairs to the dorm where he knew his friends were eagerly awaiting his return. He was already tired, yet he knew that he still had plenty more hours ahead of him tonight. This was the first night of their prank on Snape. Unlike most of their pranks, however, this would take a little while to complete. But, it gave them more time to laugh. When he reached the top of the stairs he squeaked at the door, realising that he couldn't open it while carrying all the equipment. He gave a feeble kick in the direction of the door, nearly falling over. James poked his head out the door.
"Got everything, Peter?" He opened the door completely, and took Peter's load off him, dumping it on a bed.
"Think so." He collapsed on the floor beside the bed, exhausted.
James did a quick check. "Yep, all here. Thanks, Pete."
"Can we start now?" Sirius was getting impatient.
James laughed. "Certainly." Sirius scrambled to his feet, excited. He ran to the door and waited expectantly.
"Come on!" James, Remus and Peter followed him out of the room.
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"You may go."
Upon hearing this statement from Professor McGonagall, Severus Snape shoved his parchment and quill into his bag and shot out of the classroom where he'd been having detention, furious. He just wanted to get away. Away from everyone and everything. He couldn't stand it. Those jerks. He wasn't wanted at home, and so when he'd come to Hogwarts he'd had a spark of hope. Hope that he might have found somewhere where he could be accepted, that he might not have to be treated like dirt, hope that he might even make a friend. But all of this was denied him. And it was all their fault.
He shook his head in anger as he turned down the stairs in the direction of the dungeons. He might have been able to find someone who would treat him like a human being. He might have had a chance at happiness. But no. That didn't suit them. So he was stuck with this pathetic excuse for a life. He stalked down the corridor ahead of him, his head swirling. When he finally reached the Slytherin common room, he was feeling nauseous.
He dropped his bag off in his room, and sat down on his bed. His headache was getting really bad now. He glanced around the empty room. The others were all down in the common room, sharing stories of how they'd hexed Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. Much as Severus would have liked to join them, he had no stories to share, and the other's stories would only serve as a reminder of certain Gryffindors that he would like to keep out of his mind. And anyway, he didn't fit in with the other Slytherins. They were intolerant people and liked him no better than he liked them. He rubbed his temples with his palm. This headache was really annoying him. He decided to go see Madam Pomfrey and get her to give him a potion for it.
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Sirius motioned to his friends to stay quiet. They had followed Snape down to his common room, under the protection of James' invisibility cloak. Now they were waiting outside for him to come out again. Remus had been doubtful if he would even come out at all. Sirius however, had been confident all along. He thought that there was a very high chance that Snape might be feeling a little unwell. He had his reasons.
He had heard something. Now that the others were quiet, he listened again. There was a pause, and then more footsteps could be heard. His eyes lit up. "This way," he mouthed to the others, and they set off silently.
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On his way up to the hospital wing, Severus thought he heard something. He paused, listened, and hearing nothing continued up the stairs. It must be his imagination.
A few seconds later, he heard it again. The rush of footsteps, in a last attempt to hide. He turned around slowly. He saw nothing, but he was sure of what he had heard. Unsettled, he went on his way.
A few minutes later he left the hospital wing feeling considerably better. Making his way down towards the dungeons again, he remembered the noises that he'd heard on the way up. Perhaps they were an effect of my headache? He considered this possibility. But any hope of that was put out of his mind when he heard two more footsteps. He spun around hoping to catch the offender. As he saw the corner of a cloak swish round a corner, delight spread across his face. He ran to see who it was, but when he reached the corner, he saw nobody. In the long expanse of hallway, there was no one. There weren't any doors close by, and Severus was certain that he would have seen anyone who had been there. Puzzled, he walked a few steps forward, then decided that he wouldn't catch his follower – today at least. It was late anyway, so he went back to the common room.
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As Snape walked away, James breathed a sigh of relief. "That's as close to Snape as I ever want to get."
"I know what you mean, mate," agreed Sirius. "It's pretty scary when he's right up close like that. I swear I felt his breath. It was as greasy as the rest of him."
"Eww!" said Peter. Remus sighed, but was stifling a laugh. While he didn't fully approve of his friends' habit of targeting Snape, he had to admit they were funny.
"Well, we creeped him out alright. Did you see the look on his face?" the boys, including Remus, were soon discussing the prank eagerly; what they had done and also the parts still to come…
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Severus was walking across the courtyard, on his way to his Care of Magical Creatures lesson. He wouldn't usually be outside, but this class was compulsory. As soon as he could, he was dropping this stupid subject.
While he was walking, he thought about the strange incidents over the past three days. The footsteps he'd heard on Tuesday night had continued to follow him, and he had only ever caught a glimpse of the disappearing cloak; whenever he tried to find an identity, there was no sign of anything. This puzzled him. He wasn't accustomed to being unaware of what was going on.
He noticed with disdain that Potter and his friends were walking in front of him. He caught some of their conversation floating back towards him.
"Did you know that werewolves follow their intended victims around? In the week leading up to the full moon, they pick someone, and they follow them, everywhere they go. Then, they know where they'll be when they make their attack." The voice had a spine-chilling quality to it.
Pettigrew shuddered. "That's really creepy, James. But they couldn't get into the school grounds, could they?" Could they? thought Severus.
"Sure they could. If they wanted to. If they'd found a victim."
Severus stopped walking altogether. Was it coincidence? He'd been followed, and… full moon was soon wasn't it? Only a few days away. He breathed in sharply through his nose. His eye twitched. Get a grip, he told himself. No werewolf is going to attack you. He started walking again. But he was extremely jumpy, and he was definitely not calm. Potter's words were echoing around his head. If they'd found a victim.
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The whole of Gryffindor tower was asleep, except for one second-year boy. He was staring out the window at the almost-full moon, hanging amongst wisps of grey cloud. It illuminated the grounds, casting eerie shadows. The sight made the boy shiver. The moon, though his greatest enemy, captivated him with its beauty. He tore his eyes away from it. It was a constant reminder of who he was, – no, what he was - haunting him every night. It had a power over him that compared to nothing else.
Only one more night to go, thought Remus wistfully. One more night before that moon took control. That was the worst part. Not the horrific pain, not the burden of keeping it secret, not even the fear of being found out. Of course all of these were awful, terrible, but the worst part was being out of control. When he transformed, the wolf took over, and he could do nothing about it. He would kill his best friends if they ever crossed him like that. And he could never forgive himself if he did that to someone – or worse. He wished upon nobody the curse he carried. Not his worst enemy.
He realised he should be sleeping. He needed all the sleep he could get before... that night. As he gradually drifted closer to the borderline between sleep and consciousness, he considered their prank on Snape. In his half-awake state, he found the situation pretty ironic. Snape thought he was being followed by a werewolf; Peter, Sirius and James were laughing at him because he wasn't; and in actual fact he was. Ha. Remus almost laughed at this nonsensical humour. Then he remembered what James had been telling Peter. Thank goodness that isn't true, he thought. Thoughts of Snape, his friends and full moons became a confused dream as he was consumed by sleep.
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Another chapter finished! Hope you liked it! This wasn't going to be the whole chapter, but I wanted to keep them close to the same length, so this is it for now. But shorter chapters mean quicker updates. Please R&R!