Forbidden For A Reason
Lily continued her walk in the frigid winter air. She wrapped her cloak around herself to attempt to shut out the stinging chill. She was skirting the edge of the Forbidden Forest thinking about the many times she and Severus had walked here together. Her mind drifted back to one of the conversations they had shared.
"A lot of rare potion ingredients grow in the Forbidden Forest Lils. Many of them can be found nowhere else. It's an amazingly diverse arena; as a matter of fact, it's the only place you can harvest Twinflower. It used to be quite prolific throughout Scotland, but now, the small patches here, that's it…"
"Severus, you never cease to amaze me. You know more about potions and ingredients than most masters! No wonder Slughorn likes you so much…you're probably giving him lessons on the side!" Severus had laughed at this. She loved it when he laughed…it was a fairly rare treat, even for her.
Oh Severus, she thought, Why couldn't you just listen to me? Why do you always have to be so stubborn?
Lily felt a sense of hopelessness wash over her and tears began to spill from her eyes. "It's all been ruined…it would have been wonderful, perfect if not for Potter…" Lily stopped walking, she heard a twig snap and what sounded like delicate, mincing footfalls behind her. She turned, searching the dark alcoves around her, but saw nothing that signaled danger. Suddenly, her wits gathered and she realized she was no longer following the perimeter of the Forest, but was deep within it. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked around, trying to recognize some marker that could lead her out of the towering trees. She heard another snap, another crunch of dead leaves, still, she saw nothing but forest litter and a few stones here and there. The overwhelming sadness returned, even stronger than before. She was sure she'd never felt such gripping despair. "Severus, oh, Severus!" she said, the words choking out of her, water spilling from her eyes once again. She dropped to her knees and began to weep violent, bitter tears. Through her tormented wails, she didn't hear the rush of treacherous little feet and the gnashing of dangerously hungry fangs.
"Lupin…I…why?"
"I told you mate; I just thought what he did was wrong. James…James is my friend, but sometimes, you know, I think a little humility would do him a world of good. It's as much for his sake as for yours."
Severus eyed the boy. He could see the terrible exhaustion written all over his face. His condition really did make even the most ordinary activities difficult. Someday, he would try to return the favor that Lupin now did for him. "Well, Lupin, consider me surprised that one of the Marauders might have a bit of decency in him," said Snape, regaining his usual cool demeanor.
Lupin smirked and let out a small laugh. "You're welcome Snape. Now go do something about Lily, she's been as out of sorts as you."
As Remus trudged back towards the castle Snape turned to see if Lily was still where he'd seen her before Lupin's surprise. However, she wasn't anywhere in sight. He walked a little further down the sloping hills and surveyed the landscape. "Nowhere…" he mumbled. "Well, alright then, let's put this enchanted toy to the test." Snape pulled out the parchment and his wand "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he stated as he gave the paper a thorough tap. Again he marveled as the words and pictures began to leech out onto the page. Upon closer inspection of the map, he noticed not only did it show the names and locations of the inhabitants of Hogwarts, but also their activity. He couldn't help but smirk in enjoyment. For all their infernal qualities, it appeared even the ruddy Marauders were good for something. "Now where are you Lily?" He saw a plethora of small dots jostling about the page in their various locations; Albus Dumbledore was located in his office eating lemon drops. James Potter was at the pitch practicing Quidditch. Sirius Black was in the Gryffindor common room hitting on Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom was in the same location threatening Sirius Black; but still, no Lily. Suddenly, a dot appeared on the far corner of the map, at the boundary of the Forbidden forest…it was marked Lily Evans, dying. Severus sucked in a gasp. Dying? What in the bloody hell? What was she doing in the Forest alone? Why is she...dying? Severus thought; completely unaware that he had already begun to run as fast as his legs could carry him to Lily's location.
James Potter weaved lazily on his broom. The wind licked at his face, his chapped cheeks were alternating between numbness and stinging. He was idly looking for the snitch, deciding to take a break from his chaser routines. He thought a bit of play would take his mind off the inane argument he'd had with Remus, but it didn't really help that much. "I still don't see the problem," he said, as if he'd been wounded. "I mean, after all, he knows being a werewolf isn't exactly a desirable quality, and besides; we learned to become animagus for his sake!" Still, Black's counter to their quarrel stuck in his brain. "I figure he's partly right…I mean, some misguided girl might still fancy him…one of those girls who's all caught up with danger and mystery. All I know is the whole misunderstanding is Snivellus' fault!" Just then, a glint of gold caught his eye and the thoughts of the row disappeared in the quick buzzing of metallic wings.
Lupin was reclining on his bed finishing off the last of a very satisfying bar of Honeydukes Best Chocolate when James walked through the door and plopped down on the pile littering his bed. He pulled a small bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean out from under himself and began chomping on them absentmindedly. After a minute or two of deafening silence James screwed up his face and spit one of the beans into his hand.
"UGH! I…I think that one was flobberworm flavoured!" Lupin chuckled and James glared at him; but then, his expression softened. "Remus," he said, his face flushing a bit. "I'm…I shouldn't have said…what I said. I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I mean, I realize how hard it can be, you know? I mean, it's not easy being the popular guy either, let me tell you! Sometimes you just want a moment of peace, but you've got a whole gaggle of screaming, fawning girls after you," said James, while unwrapping one of his Honeydukes bars. "So, I know what it's like to have struggles too mate, sorry I was a bit harsh on you," he said, as he took an oversized bite from the sweet.
Remus just shook his head and let out a low guffaw as he thought to himself; his arrogance is truly a thing of wonder. "Of course James, no harm, no foul," he said while offering a weak grin at the other boy.
"All right then!" James said triumphantly, turning his eyes from Lupin back to his pile of belongings. " 'Eh Mooney, you seen the map around?"
AN: I think I've got some fairly big plans for this fiction now and I'm quite surprised at the direction I think I'm going to let it take. I may end up changing the category of angst to something else more suiting, however, romance shall stay and angst will surely be involved! I'm really enjoying writing this, I hope you're enjoying reading it...if you'd like to let me know if you are or aren't, that review button is surely helpful! ;)