A/N
This chapter is dedicated to GinnyW365 (thanks for the list of names!) – I've updated before going on holiday just for you :)
"SHUT UP!" he had had enough, "SECTUMSEMPRA!" he bellowed, not knowing the full extent of what the spell could do. To his horror, blood gushed from Mulciber's chest, arms and face – he had cut him up, like a piece of carcass from the butchers. "What have I done?" was the last coherent thought before he rushed out of the common room to get Slughorn…
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"What are you doing now Mr Snape? I thought I told you to go to bed –" started Slughorn, before being cut off by an increasingly desperate Snape.
"Quick Professor, there's been an – an accident – in the Common Room!" he stuttered, leading his head of house down into the dungeons. It didn't take Severus long to reach the common room, though the same couldn't be said of Slughorn – his huge belly was obviously not the most helpful thing in the world when it came to running.
"By Merlin! What on Earth happened to him?" said a clearly horror struck Slughorn when he finally arrived. He was looking at the severe wounds on Mulciber's body in disbelief; obviously he had never seen anything like that happen at Hogwarts before. Mulciber was still bleeding profusely. Slughorn immediately started to try and heal up the wounds. However the wounds were simply reopening again.
Severus was becoming increasingly uncomfortable; he knew it wouldn't take Slughorn long to piece two and two together. "Um… Professor, I think I can –"
"How did this happen – what could have done such a thing to him?" asked Slughorn, cutting Severus off mid sentence.
"I think I can help to heal him –" he started to say, but again was cut short.
"Go upstairs and wake Mr Malfoy immediately. We need him to go and get Poppy."
Severus immediately went upstairs to wake up the Slytherin prefect. It didn't take them long to rush back downstairs into the Common Room. Lucius Malfoy took one glance at Mulciber's body before turning to the head of Slytherin.
"Should I go and get Madaam Pomfey sir?" he asked curtly.
"Yes Lucius, that would be for the best – do hurry, Mr Mulciber can not afford to lose much more blood –"
Malfoy raced out of the portrait hole, but not before taking a curious glance at Severus. This made Severus more uncomfortable, as he could tell that Lucius had an idea of what had happened.
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Less than five minutes later, Madaam Pomfrey and Malfoy came running into the Common Room. She took one look at the state of Mulciber before going over to his body and muttering all sorts of strange words. They seemed almost sing-song like, but nevertheless, Mulciber's wounds began to heal – it was as if she was sowing the skin back together. Severus made a mental note to learn that spell in the future – if he wasn't expelled first.
When all of the wounds had been healed, she asked the question Severus didn't want to hear, "What kind of spell could cause such a wound?" she looked at Malfoy and Severus, perhaps with a look of distrust or maybe even disgust, he couldn't tell. She then levitated Mulciber and left for the hospital ward. Slughorn looked at him with a look that told him that he better have a good explanation.
"I did it Professor –"
"WHAT! You did this – but how? We don't teach you anything that can cause this sort of damage at school –" he looked shocked beyond all belief. 'Severus breaking two school rules in a day? Something is not right…" he thought.
"It was my own spell sir – I didn't mean to use it like that though – it was supposed to be for potions – you know cutting up herbs and stuff – I just lost my head, Mulciber was winding me up – he called Lily Evans a – a Mudblood –"looking at it now, he realised that he was no better – hadn't he called Lily that too?
"Be that as it may, what you've done will have serious repercussions." Snape bowed his head in shame. The look on his face was confusing – on one hand he looked deeply ashamed, but he also looked like he was a broken man. Nobody had ever seen Severus look like that before.
"Sir, can I say something?" Malfoy's voice seemed to startle both Severus and Slughorn, they had both forgotten that he was there.
"Go ahead Mr Malfoy."
"It wasn't only Snape's fault – I heard what Mulciber was saying to him –" Severus jaw dropped – someone sticking up for him? Now that was something new… "none the less, I think that Snape should get punished, but he doesn't deserve to be expelled, it wasn't just his fault." Severus just gaped at Malfoy.
"I will decide tomorrow on a suitable punishment, thank you for your information" replied Slughorn before getting up and turning to leave the Common Room, "I suggest you both go to bed now."
"Yes sir" they both called as he left.
"Why did you just cover for me?" Sev couldn't help but ask the prefect.
"I think that you could be an asset for the Dark Lord, so it wouldn't do for you to be expelled –" Malfoy was looking at Snape with a new kind of respect. It was obvious that he was in awe at the effect of Sev's spell.
"I'm going to bed, it's probably my last night anyway – Dumbledore's never going to let me stay after that…" he climbed up the staircase and finally hit the bed.
All night he was plagued by dreams, every one of them involving Lily, Sectumsempra, Potter or Voldemort.
A/N
Sorry about this chapter, it's kind of a monologue, but it will get better I promise! The next one will conclude the 5th year (of Sev and Lily's year) and show the change in their relationship. (It's only going to get sadder and sadder, like the Prince's Tale does)
I know I said it last time, but I won't be updating until August – my holiday draws ever nearer – I never thought I'd say this but, it's a bummer having to stop my progress on the story for something as trivial as a holiday, but that's life…
Thanks to my reviewers, though there aren't many of you :(
Oh well, those that do review, I can't thank you enough!