Sirius was awoken abruptly by a horrible, painful, broken sound.

Even in his state of half-awareness Sirius curled into himself, covering his ears from the God-awful noise.

But when it just didn't end he sat up and opened his eyes. He didn't even notice his two friends.

He wasn't prepared for the sight of the blood and venom pooling around Snivellus' writhing form.

He wasn't prepared for the agony, gut-wrenching scream that just went on and on and on and on.

He wasn't prepared for the horrible onslaught of memories and feelings as he remembered.

And he definitely wasn't prepared for the horrible feeling of guilt that just made him want to curl up and die- preferably under a rock.

Oh God the scream wouldn't end… not even the old hag in the portrait at Grimmauld Place could go this long, and it wouldn't end.

It was minutes. It was hours. It was forever and a day and the guilt and horror wouldn't stop.

And then it did. With a horrible, loud, sickening SNAP! Snivellus shut his mouth, cutting off the shriek of agony, leaving the three boys breathless and shaking in the silence.

But the silent continuation of Snivellus' torment, the horrific, shuddering convulsions, the crystal tears leaking from tightly shut eyelids, and the blood that splattered every time Snivellus' body slammed onto the stained wood floor, almost had Sirius wishing that he would scream again, release his torment. Anything but this quiet agony, this forced silence.

Everyone flinched when his spine snapped and Snivellus arched up off the floor so bad that Sirius was sure that he'd actually broken it. And still, he was silent.

Then Snivellus collapsed, and was still. Hoarse, ragged breaths escaped the tortured, bloody lips, and his whole body trembled in the aftershocks.

Then, to all their surprise- even Remus'- the shaking stopped, and Snape relaxed, settling into the floor almost peacefully. His hands unclenched, his breathing evened out, and the harsh, dark furrow in his brow smoothed out.

But they all jumped when the husky, breathy whisper broke the silence of the shack.

'Thank you…'

They all looked at eachother, even James seemed to forget for a moment that he'd just knocked Sirius out not twenty minutes prior in light of his confusion.

But the next comment made them all realize that Snape wasn't talking to them, and it made Remus' breath hitch. But none there thought to question him on it at the moment.

'Who are you?'

Again, that warm, husky, honeyed voice swept through the pre-dawn light and, despite everything, made Sirius shiver. Merlin, that was horrible. How could he be thinking that Snivellus' voice was sexy? Shock, that's it. Only explanation.

Sirius didn't notice James' similar reaction.

Then Snape nodded, smiled softly- never seen him smile before- and fell asleep. Not unconscious, just asleep. Exhausted, weary, peaceful. His breath evened out and quieted.

Sirius, James, and Remus all stared at one another, shock and confusion evident in all their faces, even Remus'.

And Sirius asked the question that was plaguing all their minds, though none gave voice to it.

"Now what?"