Yay! New chapter so soon. = D Enjoy!
Notation reminder:
(James' inner thoughts)
Severus inner thoughts
Dream starts with:
--
and ends with:
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This had to be the weirdest two weeks of Severus' life. Since the first day of Hogwarts, James Potter had lived to make his life hell, but lately the seekers treatment of him was anything but the usual. James had been, dare he say, ignoring him. The slytherin was sure the boy had fallen off the astronomy tower and gotten amnesia.
Two weeks had past since James decided to deal with his feelings directly. He was positively lost on what to do, so he found nothing was the best temporary option until opportunity presented itself.
The Gryffindor walked onto the great hall for dinner, taking his usual seat next to Sirius at the house table. His eyes wandered across the hall to the a tiny figure heading out of the room with a small sandwich. James noticed that Snape never sat in the Great Hall to eat, but snuck food out instead. Today, the seeker noticed something strange. Four slytherin members followed Severus from a distance.
"James? What are you looking at?" Sirius inquired. James watched the four boys leave the hall then turned to Sirius. (They're going to hurt him…)
"Nothing… I've got to go. I'll catch up with you later, ok?" The scruffy haired boy replied. Sirius waited until James was out of earshot to speak.
"So, anyone else notice anything weird about James lately?"
Remus sighed. "Just because he's been behaving lately you think something is wrong. Maybe he just decided to stop being a jerk. You might want to try to."Sirius laughed.
"Hey you don't mean that…you enjoy my being a badass don't you, love?" Remus blushed and rushed from the table.
Severus steps hastened as he walked down the hall. He had a feeling he was being followed, and was correct. In mere seconds Severus was shoved into an empty corridor just off the entrance to the dungeons.
James pulled out the marauders map as worried thoughts crowded his head. This was the perfect chance to help him and open up a window to try and repair the damage and hate his years of torture caused. The seeker ran towards the dungeon corridor where the bullied slytherin was. The map also showed the four boys standing around him, undoubtedly beating and taunting him.
James raced along the labyrinth of corridors hoping he would be in time to help. He looked at the map again and saw that the others were gone and Severus was unmoving in the hall, likely unconscious. The wizard's steps slowed upon finally reaching the boy. He was lying on the floor knocked out in fetal position. His cheek scratched and cloths ripped. A sharp pain stabbed James' chest. Looking at Severus like this reminded him of how nasty he had been. (How many times did I cause him to end up like he is now?)
The seeker knelt beside the unconscious boy and lifted his hand to stroke the pale cheek. James could only think of how distorted his previous vision of Severus was. He was beautiful really. Midnight black hair contrasting milk white skin, a small face, long eyelashes, and a nose only slightly larger than normal. But James had only seen a sniveling, slimy, disgusting person until now. Until really looking at him through unbiased eyes. James whispered something barely audible into the slytherin's ear.
Scooping up Severus in his arms, the Gryffindor rose and hurried to the infirmary. Within two seconds of lying the cradled slytherin on the nearest cot, Madame Pomfery was bombarding James with hundreds of questions. After withstanding the woman's interrogations-- she had instantly blamed James for Severus' state-- he was sent off with a word of thanks.
--
A gentle hand caressed the side of his face. A soft voice whispered into his ear. "I'm so sorry Severus." Carried swiftly through the hallways in strong arms. Darkness.
--
Midnight black eyes opened to see a concerned mediwitch hovering over him. Severus groaned."How did I get here?" The last thing he remembered was getting punched in the stomach and falling to the ground. Pomfery smiled.
"James Potter brought you. He said some other slytherin attacked you?" She looked at him quizzically.
"Yes…He brought me here?"
"Yes dear." His black eyes widened. James Potter helps Severus Snape. The words just didn't seem to fit. Then my dream was…a reality? "You should thank him, he was very concerned for you."
"Right…" But why? Why would he say that? Why help me.
It was nearing after hours now and Severus stepped out of the infirmary into the empty halls. He saw James and both stopped walking upon their eyes meeting. "Potter… thanks… for earlier…" James approached the shorter boy ruffled his hair. A gesture which caused Snape to flinch.
"Any time Snape… you know its really terrible what they did." The taller boy said.
"How ironic of you to say that." Severus spat. James looked broken.
"I'm so sorry Severus." His piercing eyes stared straight as Severus. There was honesty in them. The raven haired boy felt tears sting his eyes. Sorry. Your sorry… Snapping back to reality, Snape felt rather crushed and had failed to noticed the Gryffindor's arms wrapped around him.
"H-Hey get off!" Somehow he couldn't make the words sound as mean as they usually did.
"Sorry." He said again. The slytherin stormed off, face blushed and heart beating out of his chest.